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.

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.

Alongside being one of the biggest flowers in the world, the endangered Bunga Bangkai is known for the stench that oozes from it when it blooms. According to the Botanic Gardens Of Sydney website, it has been described as “rotting flesh”, “wet socks”, “hot cat food” or for a more specific picture, “rotting possum flesh”.

The flower has been said to smell like rotting flesh, wet socks or hot cat food, and only stinks for 24 hours after blooming.

For the first time in 15 years, Putricia - the corpse flower with a vomit-smelling perfume - will flower for only about 24 hours before it withers and dies. Join us for rolling coverage of this long-awaited event.

Staff at the gardens revealed they considered putting vomit bags in the room, where crowds lined up to get a whiff of what many have described as a "rotting" smell.

Known for its smell of putrid, rotting flesh, a Corpse Flower has bloomed for the first time in 15 years at the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney on Thursday (January 23). The botanical gardens chief scientist Brett Summerell explains the reason for the smell and visitors share their impressions of the flower.