Nearly 20,000 people visited the Sydney Botanic Gardens to smell the scent of an endangered plant known as the “corpse flower” as it bloomed.
The titan arum plant, known as “Putricia,” emits a putrid smell similar to “rotten stuff” or “hot garbage” for 24 hours after blooming.
The smell is the result of chemicals produced in plants to attract pollinators.
This endangered flower is native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra and only blooms every 7-10 years in the wild. It is thought that there are less than 1,000 plant species in the world, including those in cultivation.
