A rare flower with a pungent odour that has been likened to decaying flesh, rotten eggs and sewage has bloomed in Australia - the third such flowering in recent months.
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The corpse flower, also known by its scientific name amorphophallus titanum or titan arum, bloomed for the first time in its 15 years at Canberra's Australian National Botanic Gardens on Saturday and was due to close on Monday, staff said.
The flower is called bunga bangkai in its native Indonesia, and is endemic to the rainforests of western Sumatra. Its pungent scent attracts pollinators such as flies.
There are thought to be only 300 of the plants in the wild and fewer than 1,000 in total.
It only blooms for a few days every seven to 10 years in its natural habitat - but another flowered briefly in Sydney at the Royal Botanic Gardens in late January, attracting 20,000 admirers.
Similar numbers turned out to experience another rancid bloom at the Geelong Botanic Gardens, southwest of Melbourne, in November.
Canberra's acting nursery manager Carol Dale said there was no clear explanation for Australia's spate of putrid blooms.
A flower is produced when the titan arum has stored enough energy in its underground tuber, known as a corm. Sky News
