During the last few days, over 20,000 people came to see the corpse flower for its first bloom at the Geelong Botanic Gardens.
The Titan Arum, Amorphophallus titanum, commonly known as the corpse flower or corpse plant is famous for its distinctive odour that is reminiscent of rotting flesh when it blooms, which attracts pollinators.
In the Titan Arum’s first bloom ever, the Geelong Botanic Garden’s welcomed visitors from as far as Alice Springs, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne to experience this rare bloom.
To make sure as many people could come to view this rare event, the Conservatory stayed open 24 hours during the bloom.
Now that the plant has finished blooming, the Conservatory will return to its usual opening hours of 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.
The Geelong Botanic Gardens are open every day of the year.
Our live stream has been extremely popular with over 350,000 views from all around Australia and the world.
It will restart the process of storing energy until it has enough to produce another flower. This may take another seven to 10 years.
City of Greater Geelong CEO Ali Wastie
It was amazing to see so many people interested in seeing the corpse flower.
Thank you to everyone who braved the long lines to see the Titan Arum in bloom and thank you for everyone’s patience and behaviour as the amazing Geelong Botanic Gardens team worked around-the-clock to manage the thousands of visitors.
The visitors supported not only our iconic botanic gardens, but also local businesses and the economy.
Coordinator Geelong Botanic Gardens Kellee Reissinger
Once the corpse plant started blooming, the lines didn’t stop.
I am overwhelmed by the turnout of people that came to have a look, and the dedication to wait through the night to smell our corpse flower during its short bloom.
I am grateful of the outstanding behaviour of the public and the enjoyment so many people had at the rare opportunity to see this fascinating flower bloom.
