‘We Watch The Flower’: Thousands await stinky plant’s rare bloom

An endangered herb known as the” body rose” for its filthy odor is about to bloom in Australia- and captivated the web in the process, with thousands already tuned in to a livestream ahead of its great debut.

The giant arum flower, housed in the Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney, petals only once every couple years for only 24 hours.

Warmly dubbed Putricia, it does release a scent described as “wet boots, warm cat food, or rotting squirrel flesh”.

The long worry and doubt as to when Putricia did bloom- has spawned gags and also a special jargon in the livestream’s talk, with hundreds commenting” WWTF”, or” We Watch the Flower”.

The present view is not much: Putricia stands motionless and high in front of a colored screen, comfortably ensconced behind a crimson velvet rope. Sometimes, a customer pops into the body as they snap a photo with the grow.

But when she blooms, viewers you hope to see Putricia unfold a vivid red or purple trousers, known as a castes, around her spadix which is the big spike in the middle of the plant.

The Gardens have said it is “hard to identify specifically when” Putricia did rose, but that has not stopped the dozens gathered online.

” I’m back again to see how Putricia is going and I can see she’s still taking her time like the queen she is, fair play,” wrote one commenter. ” This is the slowest comic ever,” said another.

Still another person wrote:” Over I watched, fell sleep, awoke, watched, fell asleep. I am frail, but Putricia is powerful. WWTF. “

Other popular acronyms among viewers are WDNRP ( We Do Not Rush Putricia ) and BBTB ( Blessed Be The Bloom ).

The herb can only be found in the forest of Sumatra, Indonesia, where it is known as bunga bangkai- or” body rose” in Indonesian. Its scientific name is Amorphophallus titanum, which is derived from Ancient Greek and means “giant droopy penis”,

It has the world’s largest flowering structure, as it can grow up to 3m ( 10 feet ) tall and weigh up to 150kg. The herb contains many hundred plants in the center of its pistil.

It is endangered in the wild according to forest and land decay.

Putricia is one of several giant arums in Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens, which latter saw one rose 15 years ago.

But there have been another body rose blooms across Australia in recent years, including Melbourne and Adelaide’s botanical gardens, each day attracting thousands of interested visitors keen on having a smell.

There are also a few housed in Kew Gardens in London, where one bloomed in June last year. The titan arum first flowered outside of Sumatra in 1889 in Kew.