An endangered plant known as the “corpse flower” for its putrid stench is blooming in Australia – and captivating the internet in the process, with thousands already tuning in to live streams to witness its beauty for the first time.
The titan arum plant, which lives in the Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney, blooms only once every few years for only 24 hours.
Called Putricia, it will give off an odor described as “wet socks, hot cat food, or rotting possum meat”.
The long wait to see Putricia uncomfortable has produced jokes and even a unique voice in the live broadcast chat, thousands commenting “WWTF”, or “We are watching a flower”.
The live stream attracted more than 8,000 viewers at one time on Thursday, doubling within hours as the appearance of the plant slowly changed.
John Siemon, the gardens’ director of horticulture and collections, compared the show to the Sydney Olympics in 2000, saying “we had 15,000 people come through the gates before it. [the flower] until it opened”.
“This specimen is about 10 years old. We got it from our colleagues at the LA Botanic Garden when we were three years old, and we’ve been looking after it for the last seven years,” he told the BBC’s Newsday.
“[We’re] We are very pleased with our first bloom in 15 years.”
After days off, watching live streaming changed dramatically on Thursday as Putricia, sweetly ensconced behind a red velvet rope, began to open up.
As she continues to bloom, viewers can expect to see Putricia reveal a bright maroon or crimson skirt, known as a spathe, near her spadix which is a large spike in the middle of the plant.
The gardens said it is “difficult to predict exactly when” Putricia will bloom, but that hasn’t stopped thousands collecting online.
“I’m back again to see how Putricia is doing and I can see she’s still taking her time like the queen she is, fair play,” another commenter wrote. “This is the slowest burlesque ever,” said one.
Yet another person wrote: “At night I looked, I slept, I woke up, I looked, I fell asleep. I am weak, but Putricia is strong. WWTF.”
Other popular acronyms among viewers are WDNRP (We Do Not Rush Puttricia) and BBTB (Bless the Bloom).
This plant is found only in the rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia, where it is known as bunga bangkai – or “corpse flower” in Indonesian. Its scientific name is Amorphophallus titanumwhich is derived from Ancient Greek and means “large standing pipe”.
When flowering, the long yellow spadix of this plant emits a strong smell, often compared to the smell of rotting meat, to trick pollinators into sitting on what they think is rotting meat so they can transfer pollen between the male and female species.
It has the largest flower structure in the world, as it can grow up to 3m (10 feet) tall and weigh up to 150kg. This plant contains several hundred flowers at the base of its spadix.
It is endangered in the wild due to deforestation and land degradation.
Putricia is one of the few titan arums in the Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney, which last bloomed 15 years ago.
But there have been other corpse flowers blooming across Australia in recent years, including botanic gardens in Melbourne and Adelaide, each time attracting thousands of curious visitors looking for a breather.
There are also a few kept at Kew Gardens in London, there one bloomed in June last year. Titan arum first bloomed outside of Sumatra in 1889 at Kew.
Source link
