A rare plant, with the peculiar odour of rotting meat, has flowered for the first time in years at Wellington's Botanic Gardens.
The Devil's Tongue plant, found in the gardens' Begonia House, started flowering today.
Twelve-year-old Rebekah Amitrano of Island Bay likened the smell of the plant to a compost heap.
"We have compost at home and it kind of smells like that, or like old blood," she said. "Old meat or food or something."
The plant is naturally pollinated by flies, so its flower has an odour designed to attract them, Botanic Gardens team leader Leanne Killalea said.