Al Jazeera :
She may smell like rotting flesh but “Putricia”, the internet-famous corpse flower, has been the centre of attention at the Botanic Gardens of Sydney over the last 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 to bloom on Thursday, giving off an odour described as having the aromatic profile of “dead rat”.
With 11 corpse flowers in the collection, staff at the gardens traditionally give each a nickname and this time they settled on “Putricia” – a combination of “putrid” and “Patricia”.
Putricia has also become something of an influencer over the last 18 days, as thousands monitored a livestream created by the institution to document her growth from a mere bud to a 1.6-metre-tall flower in real time.
With more than 1.5 million views and a very active Discord community, John Siemon, director of horticulture and living collections at the gardens, says staff have been “shell shocked” by Putricia’s sudden popularity.
Siemon said at least 20,000 excited onlookers have since passed through the doors to catch a whiff of Putricia over the last week.
Sydney Botanic Gardens chief scientist Professor Brett Summerell said Putricia had taken time to ramp up production of her unique perfume but was at her height on Thursday evening when the smell could be detected from 20 metres away, outside her pavilion.
