An extraordinary botanical spectacle is drawing crowds in Rio de Janeiro: several talipot palm trees, planted more than six decades ago, are blooming for the first -- and last -- time in their lives.

The trees, growing in Rio's Aterro do Flamengo park and the Botanical Garden, were planted in the 1960s by the legendary landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx.

Now, some six decades later, these giants have reached the peak of their existence in the Brazilian seaside city.

The talipot palm (Corypha umbraculifera), native to southern India and Sri Lanka, is one of the largest palm species on the planet, some reaching more than 30 meters (98 feet) tall.

It flowers only once in its entire life, if it reaches between 40 and 70 years of age.

"The talipot palm only fruits once in its lifetime,

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