A titan arum known as Pete is expected to bloom at Geelong Botanic Gardens as early as Sunday, the second corpse flower to flower there in two years, The Guardian reports. The 13-year-old plant, which emerged in late September, has reached 178cm, almost twice the height of the one that bloomed in 2024, and has been warming up and turning purple ahead of opening.
The flowers release a stench of rotting flesh to attract pollinating insects, and stay open for only 24 to 48 hours. Horticulturist Tracie Abel said staff expected this year's bloom to be smellier because the plant is bigger. Both of Geelong's plants were grown from cuttings at the Botanic Gardens of South Australia, whose senior curator Matt Coulter said few plants draw such crowds.
Source: The Guardian