Monthly Highlights - May Fauna - Rafflesia The World's Biggest Flower Recognised as the biggest flower in the world.

There are dozens of species of ra fflesia, all of which grow only in the jungles of South-east Asia. New species c ontinue to be identified. The variety that produces the biggest bloom is Raffles ia arnoldii, named after Joseph Arnold, a British botanist, and his expedition p artner, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles who was founder and governer of Singapore. In size, the rafflesia can grow to about one meter in diameter - the size of a b us tire - and weigh some eleven kilograms. (The flower of some species of raffle sis measure only ten centimeters in diameter.) The flower has five thick, pinkis h-brown fleashly petals covered with pale wartlike spots. The petals converge in a large hollow that resembles a pot, that can hold up to six liters of water. The rafflesia gives off a destinctive odour. According to one candid description , it smells like a "animal carcass in an advanced state of decomposition," earni ng it the well-deserved alternative names of corpse flower and stinking corpse l ily. (The titan arum flower, Amorphophallus titanum, is also nicknamed the corps e flower and is sometimes confused with the rafflesia.) Carrion-feeding flies ar e the flowers' main pollinators because they find the stench irresistible. The rafflesia flower has no stem, leaves, or roots and grows as a parasite of ce rtain vines on the jungle floor. When a new rafflesia bud breaks through the bar k of a host vine, the bud takes about ten months to balloon, often growing to th e size of a large cabbage. Then, in a process that takes several hours, the fles hy lobes unfold, revealing their full glory. Inside the central opening are numb er of spiky protrusions called processes. Their function is still little underst ood, although some researchers think that the protrusions may serve to distribut e heat and thus intensify the stench. The rafflesia flower's odd beauty is short-lived. After a few days, the bloom di es and begins to rot, leaving behind a slimy black mass. The rafflesia is rare and endangered. Why? Male and female flowers must bloom cl ose to each other to cross-polinate, yet most buds never reach maturity or bloom . Another reason for this is that many buds are harvested to be used in taridion al medicine or to be eaten as a delicacy. Ongoing destruction of the flower'stro pical rainforest habitat poses another serious threat. Seeing a rafflesia is a unique experience. Its size is impressive. Its smell is memorable. And its form and colour are striking.