The Dunedin Botanic Garden will soon be the smelliest place in the city with the corpse plant (Amorphophallus titanium) starting to produce its first, very rare and very smelly bloom. But there’s no way to know when the flower will open.

Dunedin Botanic Garden Collection Curator, Stephen Bishop says it’s the first time the plant has flowered in the decade it’s been at the garden.

“The flower is beginning to emerge and it’s still growing, it could be up to two metres high when it fully emerges. Exactly when the flower will open is guesswork but it could be later this week. The plant won’t smell until the flower opens.”

Famous for producing one of the world's largest flowers and a nauseating smell, comparable to rotting flesh, the flower is expected to draw large crowds.

The bloom is pungent but short-lived; the flower only lasts around 24-36 hours after it opens, so the winter garden glasshouse opening hours have been extended to allow people to have a look.

“There’s not much time to see it; the flower only lasts around 24-36 hours. It’s worth a visit though; especially because we have no idea when it might flower again in the future. There has been a lot of local interest and enquiries already. Some people are regularly visiting to watch its progress.”

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