I’ve never smelt the rotting decay of a corpse, but I’m told it would smell something like the slightly phallic endangered flower on display at Geelong’s botanic gardens.
The smell of the so-called corpse plant, or amorphophallus titanum, for those playing at home, hits you like a punch in the face – even from 20 metres away.
When walking past a snaking line of thousands of people, all waiting for a sniff of the plant, the smell of rotten blue cheese left in the sun wafts out of a glasshouse.
As I approach, I can hear dry-retching from inside. Once up close, the smell comes at you in waves. You briefly get used to it, before a new foul odour emerges.
The corpse plant is native to Sumatra, Indonesia, and takes up to a decade to flower. The blossom lasts just 24-48 hours. During this short window of time, it emits a smell similar to rotting flesh.
It is as if the plant has spent a decade concocting the worst smells imaginable. It smells different for many of the thousands of people who have waited more than two hours for a look on Monday evening.
Fair to say there is some extreme interest in Geelong’s so-called corpse plant, or ‘amorphophallus titanum’, for those playing at home. It flowers every decade and lasts just 24-48 hours. Those on the way out of the botanic gardens report dry-retching. pic.twitter.com/0zYExprGcm
— Henry Belot (@Henry_Belot) November 11, 2024
One says it smells like “dirty socks”, while others get notes of “rotting possums”, “dead rabbit”, “really bad rotten feet”, “warmed up road kill”, or “dead kangaroos”.
One school student, who gasps for air when walking out of the glasshouse, says it is like “a big can of rotting tuna” before running off. Another says it looks like a male extremity, before being silenced by a relative.
When the corpse plant blossoms, a chemical reaction emits the smell of rotting flesh to attract pollinators such as carrion beetles and flies. It’s threatened by deforestation, which is one reason why botanists are so delighted by its newfound popularity.
This particular corpse plant was propagated in 2013 and was donated by Matt Coulter, a botanist from Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens, outside Adelaide, in 2021. Since then, it’s been under the careful eye of horticulturist Lucy Griffiths.
“The plant has a horrific smell that is designed to attract flies and carrion beetles that help pollinate the plant,” Griffith says. “It’s been so interesting to see the different smells people detect”.
Melissa Smith, a school teacher from Leopold, says the plant is “just spectacular”. She’s one of 55,000 people, including from Nepal and the US, who have been watching a live stream of the plant for days now.
“We’ve been coming to the garden since Melbourne Cup day and watching on the live stream to track its progress,” Smith says. “It’s just so lovely, how special to have it here.”
A thermometer tracking the plants’ temperature was added to the live stream last week, with viewers told it would probably bloom once its core warmed to 40C.
The gardens will stay open for 24 hours until the flower dies, which could be as early as Tuesday night.
Griffiths says it is “fabulous” to see how many people are captivated by the plant and hopes its newfound popularity will raise awareness of deforestation.
Rachael Edwards, who describes herself as “a big garden person”, drove an hour from Colac before waiting another two hours in line. She brought her relatives, but admits to withholding information about what they were about to see.
“They didn’t know what we were in for until we got here,” Edwards says. “The smell hit me in the face. When I got closer, it got worse”.
Jane Flowers, from Portarlington, says the plant is “just beautiful”. Like many who waited for hours, she’s been back to visit the plant multiple times this week.
“I wasn’t that fussed about the smell, but it’s definitely like nothing I’ve smelt before. It was just a really hard smell to place,” says Flowers.
