Canberra's corpse flower defies expectations, blooms for the first time

Nearly 1000 people rushed to the Australian National Botanic Gardens over the weekend to see – and, more importantly, smell – a flower you probably wouldn’t give to anyone you love on Valentine’s Day.

The corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) is famous not only for its size but also for the stench of rotting flesh it releases when it blooms.

Sydney’s famous corpse flower, Putricia, drew a crowd of almost 20,000 people and more than a million viewers on a YouTube livestream when it bloomed a few weeks ago.

But on Saturday afternoon, Canberra’s 135 centimetre-tall flower spike defied all expectations when it too began unfurling.

“We really didn’t believe we had the right conditions here in our glasshouse in Canberra for it to flower,” Australian National Botanic Gardens tropical horticulturalist Kathryn Scobie told Region.

The flower is threatened in the wild, with only 1000 specimens believed to exist in the rainforests of west Sumatra, Indonesia.

They thrive in shady, moist and warm conditions with temperatures around 22 degrees Celsius and humidity at 75 per cent. They produce only a single leaf or a single flower spike at a time, falling dormant between each cycle.

It’s believed Canberra’s flower came to the ANBG in seed form between 15 and 20 years ago. Since then, it has gone through several new leaf cycles but has never flowered.

“You could expect one of these to flower at between seven and 10 years old, so it’s a late bloomer,” Ms Scobie said.

A bud formed on the plant on New Year’s Eve, and by late January, it was clear it was more than another new leaf. The flower spike began unfurling on Saturday afternoon.

“By Saturday evening, when it sort of reached its full opening, it was very pungent. We had the glasshouse doors open, and the smell was wafting out across the road in front.”

Because the flower is located in a part of the gardens that is not really designed for receiving visitors, the ANBG released a limited number of 870 free tickets for members of the public to see it over Sunday and Monday. This was followed by another wave of 120, followed by yet more for Monday.

“By lunchtime today (Monday), that’ll be the 48-hour mark, and it’s significantly starting to close up,” Ms Scobie said.

Visitors described the smell as similar to “sweaty laundry” and “overcooked broccoli”, but to Ms Scobie, it was “dead rat”. But it has a purpose.

“The smell it puts out is a function to try to attract pollinators, and bring carrion beetles and flesh flies by mimicking the smell and environment of dead meat.”

The bloom also heats up in a process known as ‘thermogenesis’.

It’s now reached the point where “you really have to stick your nose in there to get a whiff”.

Over the next two days, the flower will collapse, and the plant will eventually die back completely. It will lie dormant for about six months, and it could be two years before it flowers again.

“It will need to go through a couple of life cycles before it can gather enough energy to push out another flower again,” Ms Scobie said.

The pollen from Canberra’s flower will be collected, frozen and sent away to fertilise another flower elsewhere.

“It’s been really wonderful to see it for the first time – a real ‘wow’ moment – and it’s something to behold … We hope in the next couple of years we can again share it with the public.”

A few more tickets are still on sale at Eventbrite, but get in quick.