One by one, visitors to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden pulled out their phones snap pictures of the rare blooming plant before leaning in to brave a whiff of its infamously putrid scent, which resembles that of rotting flesh.

A rare plant known as the corpse flower bloomed in Sydney on Friday for the first time in more than a decade, emitting an odour likened to rotting flesh and delighting thousands who queued for a whiff.

The flower's Latin name translates as "giant, misshapen penis." But it's better known to locals as "Putricia." Royal Botanical Garden Sydney has even set up a livestream in anticipation.

An endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink is blooming in Australia - and captivating the internet in the process, with thousands already tuned in to a livestream to witness its grand debut. The titan arum plant, housed in the Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney, blooms only once every few years for just 24 hours.

A rare and revolting spectacle has drawn tens of thousands to Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens, where a foul-smelling flower has finally bloomed.

A foul-smelling corpse flower is blooming at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The BBG said around New Year's Eve, a gardener noticed the plant's inflorescence was starting to emerge and moved it into the garden's Aquatic House.

Dubbed Putricia, the titan arum plant emits a putrid smell likened to "something rotting" or "hot garbage" for 24 hours after blooming. The smell is the result of a chemical production that happens in the plant to attract pollinators.

The bloom has attracted up to 20,000 admirers who filed past, hoping to experience the smell for themselves, with some attendees describing it as "like death," "like poop," and "like sewage water."