A smelly botanic marvel is in full bloom in Adelaide with a titan arum, also known as a corpse flower, drawing big crowds.
The endangered Indonesian flower gives off an odour similar to that of rotting flesh.
It remains in full bloom for just 48 hours after taking several years to flower.
The 1.5 metre specimen in Adelaide’s Bicentennial Conservatory stripped back its green sheath on Monday to reveal its striking burgundy-coloured interior and yellow spike.
It’s the first time this plant has flowered since being propagated in Adelaide almost 10 years ago.
In 2013, the Adelaide Botanic Gardens started a titan arum propagation trial at the Mt Lofty plant nursery with leaf cuttings from adult corpse flowers re-planted to grow new plants.
The goal was to build a collection to help contribute to the global conservation effort.
Officials said the trial had been an enormous success, with the gardens now having about 100 tit an arum plants at various stages of development.
The one in bloom is the first from the trial to flower with the wait time on Monday to get a glimpse and a sniff about one-and-a-half hours.
At Christmas, a titan arum at the Cairns Botanic Gardens, named Hannibal, also bloomed for the first time in about five years.
Other corpse flowers bloomed in Adelaide in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
Source: AAP