It may seem unbelievable, but this rare plant brings hundreds of plant enthusiasts together to watch ‘Bunga Bangkai’ or ‘corpse flower’ open its petals and subsequently rot over a short 24-hour period. After a stunning (and stinky) blooming of Amorphophallus titanum or titan arum occurred in Geelong last year in November, it has become well-known throughout Australia.
Aptly named Putricia, the Sydney corpse flower has already had thousands of visitors over the last week, and it has now finally begun to bloom.
The Sydney corpse flower has been growing in the Royal Botanic Gardens, and last bloomed over 10 years ago. The reason why this flower is considered so special is because of its short blooming window, which happens every 7-10 years and for only a 24-48 hr period. After two days of blooming (and smelling disgusting!), the titan arum flower will wither and die. The rest of the plant will retreat underground for 10 years before starting the whole process again.
How to see the corpse flower in Sydney
The Botanic Gardens of Sydney explains on its website that they have a collection of these corpse flowers, with the last blooms occurring in 2010, 2008, 2004 and a double bloom in 2006.
This time around, the flower has begun to bloom on Thursday 23rd and is expected to draw in crowds of thousands of people to view, and take a whiff. After all of the press coverage, and building up to the bloom, Putricia is bound to put on a good show!
Gates have already opened at the Palm House (Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney) and will stay open until 12am for you to see Putricia in action. The space will be open again on Friday until the flower has completed it’s life-cycle.
If you’re unable to make it to the botanic gardens, there’s no need to worry, they’ve set up a live stream so you can watch it from home! Although you won’t be able to smell what many describe as ‘rotting flesh mixed with cheese’, it will still be an unbelievable sight:
Why does the corpse flower smell so bad?
It may seem like a deterrent or a way to protect from predators, but the smell of the corpse plant is actually meant to draw in pollinators, specifically carrion-eating insects. And the best way to draw this type of insect in is by replicating something dead; from the smell to the colour, which is red and congealed-looking. The carrion beetles and flies will then feed and lay eggs into the rotten flesh of the titan arum.
What does a corpse flower smell like?
A corpse flower is said to smell like a number of gross things, including dead animals, rotten eggs and cheese, and sweat. This plant draws in pollinators with its smell, which is made up of several smelly molecules:
- dimethyl disulfide (garlic)
- dimethyl trisulfide (rotten flesh)
- methyl thioacetate (sulfur)
- isovaleric acid (cheese or sweat)