Thousands of people wait for the rare flowering of a stinky plant

An endangered plant known as the “corpse flower” for its putrid smell is about to bloom in Australia – and in the process, it’s taken the internet by storm, with thousands of people already tuning in to a livestream ahead of its big debut.

The titan arum plant, located in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, blooms only once every few years for just 24 hours.

Affectionately nicknamed Putricia, it will release an odor described as “wet socks, hot cat food, or rotting possum meat.”

The long wait and uncertainty over when Putricia will bloom has led to jokes and even unique slang in the livestream chat, with thousands of “WWTF” or “We look at the flower” comments.

The current view is not much: Putricia stands silent and tall in front of a brown curtain, comfortably ensconced behind a red velvet rope. From time to time, a visitor appears in the frame while taking a selfie with the plant.

But once it blooms, viewers can expect to see Putricia display a vibrant maroon or crimson skirt, known as spathe, around its spadix, which is the large spike in the middle of the plant.

The Gardens have said it is “difficult to predict exactly when” Putricia will bloom, but that hasn’t stopped thousands of people gathering online.

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

Yet another person wrote: “Overnight I looked, I fell asleep, I woke up, I looked, I fell asleep. I’m weak, but Putricia is strong. WWTF.”

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

The plant can only be found in the rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia, where it is known as bunga bangkai, or “corpse flower” in Indonesian. Its scientific name is Amorphophallus titanum, which derives from ancient Greek and means “giant deformed penis.”

It has the largest flower structure in the world, as it can grow up to 3 m (10 ft) tall and weigh up to 150 kg. The plant contains several hundred flowers at the base of its spadix.

It is endangered in the wild due to deforestation and land degradation.

Putricia is one of several titanic arums at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, last seen flowering 15 years ago.

But there have been other corpse flowers across Australia in recent years, including at the botanic gardens in Melbourne and Adelaide, and each time they attracted thousands of curious visitors eager to smell them.

There are also some located in Kew Gardens in London, where one bloomed in June last year. The titan arum first flowered outside Sumatra in 1889 at Kew.