Auckland Council staff are holding their breath ahead of the blossoming of a "corpse flower", which is ready to release its stench at any moment.
The flower, whose real name is Amorphophallus titanium, was expected to bloom at Auckland Domain's Wintergarden as early as Wednesday but cooler weather appears to have slowed it down.
A council spokeswoman said it was still growing at an astonishing 10cm a day and could bloom at any moment.
Despite the delay, crowds yesterday flocked to the Wintergarden to see the plant, pictured above.
The flower, which only grows in the wild in the Indonesian island of Sumatra, last bloomed in December 2013 when 17,400 people came for a sniff.
