THIS rare 2m bloom smells like death, flowers for only a few days each decade - and has green thumbs rushing to the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Hordes of horticultural enthusiasts waited in line yesterday to glimpse the exotic titan arum - or corpse flower - which emits the stench of rotting flesh.
Hordes of horticultural enthusiasts waited in line yesterday to glimpse the exotic titan arum - or corpse flower - which emits the stench of rotting flesh.
Nursery co-ordinator David Robbins said experiencing the potent waft was a once-in-a-lifetime event.
"In my 26 years at the gardens, it's the most exciting thing that has happened," Mr Robbins said.
He said the plant's smell - often described as a combination of blue cheese, fresh manure and rotting flesh - attracted flies, which brought pollen from other flowers and promoted genetic diversity.
Mr Robbins said the plant, which had been painstakingly cultivated, started to flower on Christmas Day.
"This one has taken seven years to flower," he said.
"We're not sure when it will flower again. It depends on how much energy is left in the tuber after this flowering."
Mr Robbins said one underground tuber, which weighed 1kg in 2006 when it arrived at the gardens, now weighed 34kg.
He said seeds of the scarce plant were collected from Sumatra, its native home, by Sir David Attenborough in 1993 while he was there filming the documentary The Private Life of Plants.
Mr Robbins and his team planned to collect pollen from the endangered species to aid its conservation by enabling the pollination of future flowers.
He said thousands of people had come to see the bloom, which was expected to wither and close today or tomorrow, and he expected many more flower fanatics would stop by.
The Tropical Glasshouse is open from 10am to 6pm today.
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