Big Flower Rafflesia

Rafflesia was discovered by an Indonesian guide working for Dr. Joseph Arnold in 1818 in the Indonesian rain forest. It was named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, who was then the expedition leader. It is found on Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra and the Philippines. Rafflesia is a parasitic flowering plant with no stems, leaves or true roots. Inside the tissue of a vine is where its root-like haustoria is spread being an endoparasite of vines in the Genus Tetrastigma (Vitaceae). Just the five-petaled flower is the part being seen outside the host vine. The flower smells like a rotting flesh which its name means “meat flowrer”. It attracts insects like flies and carrion insects transporting pollen from male flowers to female. Some species of Rafflesia like the Rafflesia Arnoldii measures over 100 centimeters in diameter and weighs up to 10 kilograms.