Thousands of Aussies line up to see extremely rare 'corpse flower' that smells like rotting flesh - as it finally blooms in one state
- 'Smellanie' is now in full bloom
- Thousands want to smell roadkill-like flower
- READ MORE: Smellanie's sister-flower 'Putricia' blooms in Sydney
Aussies are queuing around the block just to get a glimpse of an extremely rare flower which has just bloomed, but there's a twist - it smells like rotting flesh.
The giant, foul-smelling plant, the Titan Arum, has become a novelty for those visiting the Adelaide Botanic Garden since it was opened to the public on Saturday morning.
The flower, nicknamed 'Smellanie' and 'corpse flower' by staff at the garden, is the result of a 20-year conservation effort where ideal conditions for the flower to bloom were recreated.
Its smell is described as a 'pungent aroma' of 'fleeting appearance', resembling cheese, fermented cabbage and roadkill.
The breed of flower is native to Sumatra, in Indonesia's west, and is one of the world's largest flowering plants.
On average, the flower can grow up to three metres in height when fully bloomed.
It's endangered, however, and it is estimated that there are fewer than 1,000 of them in the wild.
Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium of South Australia (BGSH) horticultural curator Matt Coulter stressed the importance of the latest bloom for the park.
The Adelaide Botanic Garden's rarest flower is now in full bloom
'Smellanie' the Titan Arum is the result of 20 years' worth of work on the part of garden staff members who have been painstakingly creating the perfect blooming conditions for it
'We received a donation of three seeds in 2006, and from that small starting point have grown a collection of around 250 Titan Arum plants,' he told news.com.au.
'Approximately 100 have been propagated from leaf cuttings and 150 through cross-pollination, in addition to the original three plants.
'Smellanie has emerged from a tuber generated by one of those original seeds and marks the second time this particular plant has flowered, following its last bloom in 2021.'
And it seems not even the smell is enough to keep Aussies away, with thousands desperate to put their nose to the test this weekend.
Botanic experts have advised visitors that the plant's aroma will peak within 12-24 hours of its initial bloom.
The extreme stench is the plant's attempt to attract pollinators with its unique smell particularly suited to beckon carrion beetles and flesh flies towards it.
Roughly 48 hours after the rapid bloom, Smellanie's giant yellow spadix, which rises from the centre of its petals, will begin to collapse.
The plant flowers every two to five years and when it does, the bloom lasts two days.
The aroma, made up of 70 different compounds, expels every 30 to 60 seconds.
Thousands have lined up at the park for the opportunity to smell the stench of Smellanie
