"Putricia stans" are waiting up to three hours to catch a glimpse of a giant foul-smelling flower during a rare and fleeting blooming event.
The corpse flower - nicknamed "Putricia" - began unfurling at Sydney's Royal Botanic Garden for the first time in 15 years on Thursday afternoon.
The rare titan arum, a type of carrion flower, has the world's largest and stinkiest flower spike and blooms for only 24 hours.
More than 5000 people have lined up to see the flower in the past week, while more than 500,000 have tuned in to a live stream online.
When the bloom finally came on Thursday, scores of people waited up to three hours to catch a glimpse of the botanical sensation.
"I've been waiting for days and following the stream all week - it was the highlight of my first week back at work," administration officer Dan told AAP.
"I waited about two hours but got a good photo in the end - and the smell wasn't too bad yet."
Botanists from the gardens have occasionally popped up on the stream to measure the height and temperature of the flower, which was 1.6m high and 27C as of Thursday afternoon.
Many online viewers calling themselves "Putricia stans" have been tuning in from around the world.
"I love you Putricia, my queen," one viewer wrote under the stream.
"I would sacrifice my family for Putricia," another said.
The stream was adorned with hashtags including BBTB (Blessed Be The Bloom) and WWTF (We Watch The Flower).
The flower also has its own Spotify playlist, which includes tracks such as Seal's Kiss From a Rose, and a Facebook fan page.
The flower was expected to reach peak stink on Thursday evening and remain open for several days.
The foul odour of carrion flowers - often referred to as imitating the smells of rotting flesh, garbage or vomit - is designed to attract bugs and pollinators.
Botanic Gardens chief scientist Brett Summerell said the team was overwhelmed and overjoyed by the interest in the flower.
"It's fantastic for botany and fantastic for the gardens and to see this inspiration throughout the community," he said.
An internal staff ballot was held to come up with the name Putricia, winning out over Dame Nellie Smelba.
"We all love her dearly in the nursery," horticultural development supervisor Daniella Pasqualini said of Putricia's rearing.
"She grew 1.6 metres in 18 days, so that's a pretty phenomenal rate - about 10 centimetres a day."
Putricia is one of several titan arums in the botanic gardens, while corpse flowers have bloomed in other Australian cities in recent years.
Thousands of people visited Adelaide Botanic Garden in 2023 to watch a 1.5m-tall specimen unfurl its leaves.
A similar event took place in Geelong in November, followed by a burgeoning corpse flower in Melbourne in early January.
Sydney's Royal Botanic Garden will remain open until midnight on Thursday to allow people to see the corpse flower.
