Penis plant that smells like rotting meat blooms for first time in 24 years

Visitors to botanical gardens who were not put off by the foul-smell were given a rare treat as a “penis plant” bloomed for the first time in nearly 25 years.

Normally the Amorphophallus decus-silvae, a native of Indonesian rainforests, requires hot and humid conditions but to the surprise of horticulturalists one flowered at a Dutch botanical gardens.

The penis plant, so named for its phallic shape, began to flower on October 22 at the Hortus Botanicus Leiden, and then came fully into bloom during this last week.

For enthusiasts it was a special moment as it is believed to have been only the third time that the plant has flowered in Europe, according to the Leiden botanical gardens.

The "penis plant" came fully into bloom this week at a Dutch botanical gardens ( ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

And the last time that it happened at the Leiden gardens was in 1997.

After flowering, though, the plant had already become “all shrivelled up” said a volunteer at the gardens, Roos Kocken, on a TikTok post, reported the Daily Mail.

She added: “It’s still beautiful actually.”

Another volunteer, Rudmer Postma, has been caring for the plant and a bud was first noticed mid-way through last month, which shot up to nearly two feet in length and with a narrow 6ft 7in stem.

It has been a major attraction at the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden this week ( ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

With botanists then eagerly awaited the foul smell that comes next and is the sign that the plant is about to bloom, with the odour attracting flies.

This is the female part of blooming where the white flower head, called an inflorescence, warms up and gives off the unpleasant smell.

Flies come due to the smell and in the male phase the plant produces pollen which is carried off by the insects.

While in nature the flies carry the pollen to another similar flowering plant, at the Leiden gardens there is just one Amorphophallus decus-silvae and so pollen is gathered by staff and shared with other botanical centres.

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