On January 24, 2025, a rare event attracted significant attention at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, Australia, as thousands of visitors lined up to witness the blooming of the infamous corpse flower, scientifically known as Amorphophallus titanum. This unique plant, affectionately named “Putricia,” is renowned for its pungent odor reminiscent of rotting flesh, which has drawn over 13,000 admirers since the bloom was first noted.
As anticipation grew among fans, garden staff transformed the greenhouse into an atmosphere akin to a rock concert, complete with crowd control barriers and a red carpet. Visitors took selfies and leaned in for a whiff of Putricia’s increasingly potent scent. One enthusiastic visitor even raised her arms in reverence as she experienced the bloom.
The online community surrounding Putricia has also flourished. A live stream set up by the botanical garden attracted nearly a million views within a week, leading to a culture of memes and shared phrases like “WWTF” (We Watch The Flower) and “BBTB” (Blessed Be The Bloom). One viewer humorously remarked, “Putricia is a metaphor for my life,” reflecting the plant’s unexpected impact on its audience.
Putricia’s bloom is not just an aesthetic marvel; it also serves an ecological purpose. As she opens, her temperature rises to approximately 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit), enhancing her scent to attract flies and carrion beetles for pollination. Garden staff have plans to hand-pollinate Putricia to promote genetic diversity and ensure the species’ survival.
For more information on this event and quotes from experts, please refer to Reuters’ coverage and additional insights from BBC News.
Sources:
[1] https://apnews.com/article/corpse-flower-putricia-sydney-bloom-australia-0b641ecf43eb359f68e713e43b8b1abd
[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgpnqe91j1o
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