South Australians Queue for the Pungent Corpse Flower · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Congrats to the team at Mount Lofty Botanic Garden for their success! Photo courtesy Tom Chladek
A corpse flower has bloomed in South Australia's Mount Lofty Botanic Garden. Known for its size, striking appearance and its stench, its botanic name is the Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum). The plant is native to Indonesia's Sumatra island, where its common name is bibunga bangkai, meaning carrion plant or corpse flower.
Despite the repulsive odour, thousands have waited patiently in line to experience its brief opening. It may not happen again for up to seven years. News had spread quickly:
Thousands Of People Are Lining Up To See A Flower That Smells Like Death https://t.co/qATOFxR435 @lanesainty pic.twitter.com/hS0k5mm59Q
— BuzzFeed Australia (@BuzzFeedOz) December 29, 2015
Even the police got in on the act:
Motorists are advised there is heavy traffic around #Piccadilly as people flock to see #stinkyflower @BotGardensSA https://t.co/bbrcuECAGq
— SA Police News (@SAPoliceNews) December 29, 2015
Natalie Whiting captured some of the curious crowd on video:
Hundreds line to see #corpseflower at @BotGardensSA in #adelaide. @amworldtodaypm @abcnewsAdelaide pic.twitter.com/tXIiGRXR9p
— Natalie Whiting (@Nat_Whiting) December 29, 2015
Even Britain's Telegraph joined the flower power, as did BBC News:
Thousands queue to smell flesh-odoured corpse flower which blooms every 1000 days https://t.co/1ORFXUuNeC pic.twitter.com/ZSt1tepXtM
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) December 29, 2015
No wonder Tom Chladek, the photographer @botgardenssa, was enjoying the attention:
Can't believe the attention this is getting. @botanicgardenssa #titanarum
A photo posted by Tom Chladek (@chladey) on
Unfortunately, any possibility of extending access into a second day was dashed by the summer bushfire season:
#MountLofty Botanic Garden will be closed Wed 30 December due to “Severe” fire danger rating. More info at https://t.co/HpC69AnODx. @SADEWNR
— Botanic Gardens SA (@BotGardensSA) December 29, 2015