- The Royal Botanic Garden are showcasing the rare blooming of a massive Corpse Flower.
- The last time a Corpse Flower bloomed in Sydney in 2010.
- The super rare event is expected to attract thousands and will be live streamed via YouTube.
- READ MORE: Sydney’s newest beach has been nicknamed “Putney”.
Over the past 12 months Sydney has benefitted from a bunch of rare astronomical events and super moons, but the sky isn’t exactly exclusive territory for the harbour city.
What is exclusive, however, is our world-famous Royal Botanic Garden which is this week witnessing something incredibly rare, exciting and… smelly.
The botanical spectacle is the rare flowering of a massive Corpse Flower (aka Titan Arum).
Big deal? Well, reportedly there are only 1,000 of these unique, massive and endangered flowers left in the world. And unlike most sweet-smelling flowers, they are most notorious for the putrid stench released when they bloom to attract opportunistic pollinators such as carrion beetles and flies.
The Corpse Flower is known to flutter its skunk-like wings just once every 10 years. But even then the timeline is completely unpredictable.
In 2024, a Corpse Flower suddenly started to bloom in Geelong, attracting about 5,000 people within the first day, with most attendees comparing the unique smell to a dead mouse, an excessively stinky pond. Or, as per reputation, the flesh of a rotting corpse.
The Corpse Flower bloom tend to lasts only 24-48 hours. According to the Botanic Gardens, its resident 80cm-tall Corpse Flower will bloom sometime between today and Monday, January 20. Until then, the flower won’t be on display.
Once it beings blooming, the Royal Botanic Garden will move the flower out of its Aroid Glasshouse for public viewing and extending its opening hours until midnight so more people can attend to rare event.
The Royal Botanic Garden has several Corpse Flower plants in varying stages of growth. However, this is only the fifth time one of them has bloomed at the location. There was a super rare double bloom in 2006 and the most recent single bloom was in 2004.
How do people know when a Corpse Flower is ready to bloom?
The gardens horticulturalists apparently began noticing initial clues to the impending bloom just a few days ago. Daily measurements and close observation were then taken and this information was shared with other botanic gardens across the world to check on blooming patterns.
The large pale spike in the centre of the plant (called the spadix) was clearly growing fast, which indicates that a growth spurt is about to start. After core’s growth spurt ends, its leathery crimson skirt (called the spathe) will start to open. This is the start of the long flowering process, and the start of its putrid perfume.
Since the discovery, the spadix has grown more than 40 centimetres and reportedly adds around 10-15 centimetres each day.
What does a corpse flower smell like?
It’s in the name, really. But you’d be rightfully worried if anyone had that reference point buried in their olfactory bulb. If you want a good idea of what the flower actually smells like, do what Royal Botanic Gardens Manager of Volunteer Programs, Paul Nicholson, says:
“If you’ve got some wet teenage socks, throw that into a blender, then you get some cat food you’ve left out in the sun, what that in your blender, and then get some day old vomit. But that in the blender, blend it up, rip the lid off. That’s the kind of smell you’re getting.”
How do I see the Corpse Flower bloom at Royal Botanic Gardens?
Your best bet is to follow Royal Botanic Gardens on Instagram and you’ll get live updates about the Corpse Flower and its progress. Again, once that stem in the centre begins to slow its growth, the flowering starts. The garden’s volunteers will then move the flower to a location better suited for public viewing.
UPDATE: The Corpse Flower has already been moved to the public viewing area, which means that it should start flowering from today, Thursday to tomorrow, Friday. The Royal Botanic Garden has already set up a live stream for “Putricia”. You can watch it on Youtube.
Royal Botanic Garden
Address: Mrs Macquaries Rd, Sydney NSW 2000
Opening Hours: Monday – Sunday (7pm – 8pm) [note that the Royal Botanic Garden will extend opening hours to Midnight on the day of the Corpse Flower’s bloom].
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