Sydney’s botanic gardens haven’t had a bloom of the corpse flower, which only lasts about 24 hours, in 15 years.

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

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.