Visitors flock to see the ‘corpse flower’ in bloom

The stench of death would normally repel sightseers, not attract them.

But this week in Sydney, a city known for its beaches and vibrant food scene, crowds flocked to catch a glimpse — and a whiff — of a rare flower whose scent has been fondly compared to the smell of rotting flesh.

Rows of visitors gathered at the Australian city’s Royal Botanic Garden to see the bloom of the rare and endangered flower Amorphophallus titanum, also known as the “corpse flower”, which opens once every few years for just 24 hours.