HUNDREDS OF CURIOUS people in France are standing in long queues to see an enormous flower called Titan’s Penis.

More than 2,000 people rushed to see the Amorphophallus titanum, also known as the titan arum, at the Jardin des Plantes in Nantes after it began flowering on Sunday. It flowers only once every ten years.

Here’s what it looks like:

A Titan's Penis which flowered in Copenhagen in 2012 Polfoto / Press Association Images Polfoto / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

The phallus-shaped flower is the largest in the world, reaching heights of up to three metres or ten feet, though the one in Nantes measures only 1.6 metres.

It appears once every ten years and lasts for only 72 hours. The flower is also known for its deeply unpleasant odor reminiscent of rotting meat.

In Sarasota, Florida, in 1999 roger4336 roger4336

The plant, endemic to western Sumatra, is held in many botanical gardens and the Nantes facility acquired one in 2012.

“It is a pretty flower, well-designed, well-structured,” said one of the visitors, Christian Hamon.

This is what happens when it’s all spent:

Jim Linwood Jim Linwood

- © AFP, 2014

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