Rare 'Corpse Flower' Blooms in Australia, Draws Thousands

The Adelaide Botanic Garden has seen massive crowds gather to witness the spectacular, albeit malodorous, bloom of the Titan Arum, nicknamed 'Smellanie'. This rare occurrence is the culmination of a 20-year conservation endeavor by garden staff. The flower, native to Sumatra, Indonesia, is one of the world's largest and is endangered, with fewer than 1,000 estimated to be in the wild. Smellanie's bloom, which lasts for approximately two days, emits a powerful stench, described as resembling rotting flesh, cheese, and roadkill. This potent aroma is a strategy to attract pollinators like carrion beetles and flesh flies.

This particular Titan Arum's flowering is the second time it has bloomed, the previous instance being in 2021. The Adelaide Botanic Garden received three seeds in 2006, and through meticulous propagation and cross-pollination efforts, has cultivated a collection of about 250 Titan Arum plants. The flower's intense smell, composed of 70 different compounds, is released periodically and peaks within 12 to 24 hours of its initial bloom. After roughly 48 hours post-bloom, the plant's central structure, the spadix, begins to collapse.