SYDNEY (AP) — The rare unfurling of an endangered plant that emits the smell of decaying flesh drew hundreds of devoted fans to a greenhouse in Sydney on Thursday where they joined three-hour lines to experience a momentous bloom -– and a fragrance evoking gym socks and rotting garbage.
Tall, pointed and smelly, the corpse flower is scientifically known as amorphophallus titanum — or bunga bangkai in Indonesia, where the plants are found in the Sumatran rainforest.
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An endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, is about to bloom at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
A man uses a mop to soak up water from the plants where an endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, is on display at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
An endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, is about to bloom at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Sophie Daniel poses for a photo next to an endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Karen, center left, and Wayne McKay photograph themselves with an endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
An endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, is about to bloom at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
People view an endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, which is about to bloom at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
But to fans of this specimen, she’s Putricia -- a portmanteau of “putrid” and “Patricia” eagerly adopted by her followers who, naturally, call themselves Putricians. For a week, she has graced a stately and gothic display in front of a purple curtain and wreathed in mist from a humidifier at the Royal Sydney Botanic Garden.
Her rise to fame has been rapid, with up to 20,000 admirers filing past for a moment in her increasingly pungent presence. No corpse flower has bloomed at the garden for 15 years.
There are thought to be only 300 of the plants in the wild and fewer than 1,000 including those in cultivation. The corpse flower only blooms every 7-10 years in its natural habitat.
“The fact that they open very rarely, so they flower rarely, is obviously something that puts them at a little bit of a disadvantage in the wild,” said garden spokesperson Sophie Daniel, who designed Putricia's kooky and funereal display. “When they open, they have to hope that another flower is open nearby, because they can’t self-pollinate.”
After seven years at the garden, Putricia's flower was spotted in December when she was just 25 centimeters (10 inches) high. By Thursday, she was 1.6 meters (5 feet 3 inches) tall.
During the day, her flower spike slowly opened like a pleated skirt around a majestic central tuber, the yellow-green outer curling to reveal a burgundy center.
As excitement grew in Sydney about the unfolding bloom, garden staff erected crowd barriers giving the Victorian greenhouse the air of a rock concert. Fans trod a red carpet to view Putricia from behind velvet ropes in a display inspired by Queen Victoria’s funeral, the Rocky Horror Picture Show and the oeuvre of the late director David Lynch.
Inside, fans took selfies and leaned in for a sniff — a more perilous prospect as Putricia's odor developed. People inhaled the “slaughterhouse” stench and canceled their dinner plans, said Sydney Morning Herald science reporter Angus Dalton.
“I am sickened,” he added. “I am in awe.”
One young woman raised her hands and bowed as though in worship. On social media, garden staff performed a viral dance in front of the plant to Chappell Roan’s summer hit HOT TO GO!
It was difficult to say why the regal, mysterious and stinky flower had attracted such a following -– but perhaps the answer lay in the “reverence” viewers felt in the presence of “such an amazing living being,” Daniel said.
Along with her real-life visitors, Putricia’s online fandom has been rapid, global and deeply strange -– if much less smelly. A 24/7 live stream established by the botanic garden drew close to a million views in less than a week and prompted a shared language of memes and inside jokes.
Frequently deployed acronyms included WWTF, or we watch the flower, WDNRP -- we do not rush Putricia – and BBTB, or blessed be the bloom. “Putricia is a metaphor for my life,” wrote one poster, who did not elaborate.
Commenters on social media planned to hurry to the garden as the plant opened. In just 24 hours, Putricia’s bloom -– and her stench -– would be gone.
As she unfurled, the plant heated to 37 degrees Celsius (100 F) to better spread her scent, attracting flies and carrion beetles which burrowed inside and laid eggs. Then work began to hand-pollinate the plant in an effort to ensure the species' diversity and survival.
But first, thousands of Putricians attempted to get as close as they could to their hero of a week.
“We did have a few conversations early on about whether or not we should have vomit bags in the room," said Daniel, adding that garden staff ultimately decided against it. “I haven’t heard of anyone actually being harmed."
Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand.
An endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, is about to bloom at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
A man uses a mop to soak up water from the plants where an endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, is on display at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
An endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, is about to bloom at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Sophie Daniel poses for a photo next to an endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Karen, center left, and Wayne McKay photograph themselves with an endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
An endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, is about to bloom at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
People view an endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, which is about to bloom at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street held relatively firm on Tuesday following President Donald Trump’s latest tariff escalation and after the Federal Reserve hinted interest rates may not change for a while.
The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged and edged up by less than 0.1% in the market’s first trading since Trump announced 25% tariffs on all foreign steel and aluminum coming into the country. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 123 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.4%.
The moves were modest not only for U.S. stocks but also in the bond market, where Treasury yields rose by only a bit.
The threat of a possible trade war is very real, of course, with high potential stakes. Most of Wall Street agrees that substantial and sustained tariffs would push up prices for U.S. households and ultimately lead to big pain for financial markets around the world. The European Union’s chief, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Tuesday that “unjustified tariffs on the EU will not go unanswered — they will trigger firm and proportionate countermeasures.”
But trading remained mostly calm in part because Trump has shown he can be quick to pull back on such threats. That’s what he did earlier with 25% tariffs he had announced for all imports from Canada and Mexico, suggesting tariffs may be merely a negotiating chip rather than a true long-term policy. That in turn has much of Wall Street hoping the worst-case scenario may not happen.
“The metal tariffs may serve as negotiating leverage,” according to Solita Marcelli, chief investment officer, Americas, at UBS Global Wealth Management.
In the meantime, much of Wall Street’s focus on Tuesday swung to a different part of Washington. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said again in testimony on Capitol Hill that the Fed is in no hurry to ease interest rates any further.
The Fed had cut its main interest rate sharply through the end of last year, hoping to give a boost to the economy. But worries about inflation potentially staying stubbornly high have forced the Fed and traders alike to cut back expectations for cuts in 2025. Some traders are even betting on the possibility of zero, in part because of worries about the effects of tariffs.
“We’re in a pretty good place,” Powell said about where the economy and interest rates are currently. He said again he’s aware that going too slowly on rate cuts could damage the economy, while moving too quickly could push inflation higher.
Higher rates tend to put downward pressure on prices for stocks and other investments, while pressuring the economy by making borrowing more expensive. That could be risky for a U.S. stock market that critics say already looks too expensive. The S&P 500 is not far from its all-time high set late last month.
One way companies can offset such downward pressure on their stock prices is to deliver stronger profits. And big U.S. companies have been mostly doing just that recently, as they report how much profit they made during the last three months of 2024. That, though, hasn’t always been enough.
Marriott International fell 5.4% even though it reported a better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Investors focused instead on its forecasted range for an important underlying measure of profit this upcoming year, which fell short of what analysts were expecting.
Humana sank 3.5% despite reporting a milder loss than analysts expected. The insurer and health care company offered a forecast for profit in 2025 that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.
Helping to offset such losses was Coca-Cola, which rallied 4.7% after reporting stronger profit and revenue than analysts expected. Growth in China, Brazil and the United States helped lead the way.
DuPont climbed 6.8% after the chemical company likewise reported better profit than Wall Street expected.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 2.06 points to 6,068.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 123.24 to 44,593.65, and the Nasdaq composite fell 70.41 to 19,643.86.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.53% from 4.50% late Monday. The two-year Treasury yield, which moves more closely with expectations for upcoming action by the Fed, held steady. It remained at 4.28%, where it was late Monday.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.1%, and South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.7% for some of the bigger moves, while Japanese markets were closed for a national holiday.
FILE - Trader Jonathan Mueller works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file)
A currency trader passes by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top right, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)