Australia has become one of the world’s foremost destinations for the rare and extraordinary blooms of the corpse flower, Amorphophallus titanum, drawing tens of thousands of visitors to witness these fleeting natural spectacles.

In 2025 alone, more than a dozen titan arum flowers opened across the country, including celebrated specimens in Sydney, Canberra, Cooktown, Cairns and Adelaide, where a substantial collection has been cultivated and nurtured to maturity.

The plants, originally native to the rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia, are famed for their enormous size and powerful scent, which mimics the odour of rotting flesh to attract pollinating insects.

Botanic gardens across Australia have reported unprecedented public interest in these blooms, with named flowers such as Putricia in Sydney and Smellanie in Adelaide drawing dedicated crowds eager to see and smell the rare events.

At the Adelaide Botanic Garden, horticulturists have cultivated hundreds of plants from seeds and cuttings, creating one of the largest living collections of the species anywhere.

As these plants reach an age conducive to flowering, the frequency of blooms has increased, allowing enthusiasts to encounter the spectacular inflorescences more regularly than ever before.

Corpse flowers are infamously unpredictable; they take many years to amass the energy needed in their underground corms to bloom and then only do so for a brief period, often just a day or two.

Their dramatic appearances attract significant local and international attention, transforming enclosed glasshouses into bustling hubs of curiosity and scientific interest.

Australian horticulturists attribute the rising number of blooms to years of careful propagation and favourable cultivation conditions, particularly in climates such as Adelaide’s, where heat and dryness have proved surprisingly conducive.

In addition to the iconic Amorphophallus titanum, Australia also hosts native species with similar floral structures and olfactory strategies, further enhancing the nation’s unique position in global botany.

As existing collections continue to mature, experts predict that the cadence of corpse flower blooms in Australia will remain high, cementing its reputation as a premier global centre to experience one of nature’s most unusual botanical marvels.