Thousands flock to smell the reek of dead rats, rotting rubbish. environmental news
Huge crowds queue in Sydney to catch a glimpse of flower that smells like ‘hot shit’
She may smell like rotting meat, but “Daughter”, the internet-famous corpse flower, has been the center of attention at Sydney’s botanic gardens over the past two days.
The rare plant – scientific name Amorphophallus Titanum, but also known as “Titan Arum” or “Bunga Bangkai” in Indonesia, where it grows wild – began blooming on Thursday, with a scent profile reminiscent of “Dead Rat.” Gave up an odor as described. ,
With 11 corpse flowers in the collection, the gardens’ staff traditionally give each a nickname and this time they settled on “Putricia” – a combination of “putrid” and “Patricia”.
Putrichia has also become an influencer over the past 18 days, as thousands of people watched a livestream created by the organization, documenting her growth from a mere bud to a 1.6-metre-tall flower in real time.
With over 1.5 million views and a very active Discord community, John Seamon, director of horticulture and living collections at the Garden, says the staff has been “shell shocked” by the sudden popularity of putrichia.
Siemon said at least 20,000 excited visitors have passed through the doors to catch a glimpse of Putricia in the past week since then.
Sydney Botanic Garden chief scientist Professor Brett Summerell said putricia had taken time to increase the production of its unique perfume, but was at its peak on Thursday evening when the scent could be detected from 20 meters away outside its pavilion. Was.
“It’s a little bit of a build-up,” he said. “Over a period of time, as the flower begins to grow, it begins to generate heat and this heat begins to generate chemical reactions.
“What the plant is trying to do is produce the maximum amount of that scent, so it attracts insects, flies and beetles from all over the forest so they can come and pollinate it.”
The oversized flower has fluted crimson petals and can measure over a meter (3 ft) across, with a pointed center stalk that can top 3 meters (10 ft).
The flower’s disgusting smell and red-violet structure are designed to lure pollinators so it can reproduce.
The plant usually blooms no more than once every few years and only lasts about a day. A specimen has not bloomed in Sydney since 2010, making Putrichia the fifth corpse flower to bloom in gardens.
After about 48 hours, the yellow stalk in the center of the corpse flower falls off and it will be a minimum of three to five years before the plant blooms again.
Sydney resident Rebecca McGee-Collett, who waited 90 minutes to see the flower on Thursday evening, said the flower was beautiful, but the smell was like “hot garbage”.
The plant is native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra and is listed as endangered due to habitat loss and poaching, with 300–500 specimens of Titan Arum left in the wild.
