A 2.3 metre-high Titan arum, proved a hit with visitors to world-famous botanical gardens at Kew, hoping to catch the flower at its peak and experience its highly unusual foul odour of rotting flesh (June 18).

Visitors queued all day to take photos of the endangered plant, where one lady was spotted with a disgusted expression after catching a whiff of it.

The fleeting giant bloom will produce a foul smell for a short time to attract pollinating insects such as carrion beetles, and will typically last around 24-48 hours before dying back.

The 'bloom', despite its appearance is in fact a flowering structure called an 'infloresence', consisting of a yellow flower spike called a spadix, covered by a petal-like structure. Tiny female and male flowers sit at the base of the flower spike awaiting the insects.