Thousands line up to see 'corpse flowers' in Australia

In the Australian city of Geelong, south of Melbourne, thousands of people are lining up for a rare chance to see and smell the stench of an unusual plant that blooms only once a decade.

It is known as the "corpse flower", or Amorphophallus Titanum (often shortened to Titan Arum ), because of the foul odor it gives off when blooming to attract pollinators such as beetles and flies.

The "corpse" flower only blooms once every 10 years and smells like a dead rat.

However, the blooming time is unpredictable , sometimes it blooms once every 10 years and each bloom only lasts 24 to 48 hours, making it an event that attracts the attention of many people.

This plant was donated to Geelong Botanic Park in 2021 from the State Herbarium in Adelaide, South Australia, and for many years gardeners have been watching and waiting for signs of a flower bud.

After days of anticipation, the tree began blooming on November 11. About 5,000 people came to see it on the first day of bloom, Geelong Parks Manager Reese McIlvena said. Visitors described the smell as similar to a dead rat or a stinking pond.

The botanical garden will be open continuously until the evening of November 12, when the flower is expected to wilt.

For those who couldn't make it in person, the park did a livestream of the " corpse flower" — attracting tens of thousands of views from around the world.

Some visitors have returned repeatedly to see the plant in its various stages of flowering – the slow unfurling of the petals that grow from the base of the flower until they close around a tall yellow pistil in the center.

'We value the important role the Botanic Park plays in showcasing rare and unique plant species ,' said City of Greater Geelong Chief Executive Ali Wastie.

"The Titan Arum is endangered, and its conservation is important as wild populations are declining."

This flowering plant is native to Indonesia and is listed as 'endangered' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. The Sumatran forest's natural habitat has been devastated by land degradation and deforestation, with much of the land converted to timber, paper or oil palm plantations.

The plant can live for over 30 to 40 years – meaning it only blooms a few times in its entire lifespan. The IUCN estimates that there are only a few hundred Titan Arum plants left in the wild.

According to the IUCN, the "corpse plant" is now legally protected in Indonesia and dozens of botanical gardens around the world grow the plant to help conserve it, including a botanical garden in California that the public has named Darth Vapor - after the main villain of the "Star Wars" movies .