Rafflesia is a genus of parasitic flowering plants in the family Rafflesiaceae. The species have enormas flowers, the buds rising from the ground or directly from the lower stems of their host plants; one species has the largest flowers in the world. The genus contains approximately 28 species, all found in Southeast Asia, mainly in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. For Western Europe, it was first discovered by French surgeon and naturalist Louis Deschamps in Java between 1791 and 1794, but his notes and illustrations, seized by the British in 1803, were not available to western science until 1861. The first British person to see one was Joseph Arnold in 1818, in the Indonesia rainforest in Bengkulu, Sumatra, after a Malay servant working for him discovered a flower and pointed it out to him. It was later named after Stamford Raffles, the leader of the expedition.
Rafflesia arnoldii is a species of flowering plant in the parasitic genus Rafflesia. It is noted for producing the largest individual flower on Earth. It has a very strong and unpleasant odour of decaying flesh. It is native to the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo. Although there are some plants with larger flowering organs like the titan arum and talipot palm, those are technically clusters of many flowers.
Rafflesia kerrii is a member of the genus Rafflesia. It is found in the rainforest of southern Thailand and peninsular Malaysia, with the most famous population in the Khao Sok National Park. The local Thai names are Bua Phut (บัวผุด), Yan Kai Tom (ย่านไก่ต้ม) and Bua Tum (บัวตูม).
Carrion flowers, also known as corpse flowers or stinking flowers, are flowers that emit an odor that smells like rotting flesh. Carrion flowers attract mostly scavenging flies and beetles as pollinators. Some species may trap the insects temporarily to ensure the gathering and transfer of pollen.
Lundu is a town located in the northwest of Kuching Division of Sarawak, Malaysia, and borders the Indonesian Province of West Kalimantan.
The Rafflesiaceae are a family of rare parasitic plants comprising 36 species in 3 genera found in the tropical forests of east and southeast Asia, including Rafflesia arnoldii, which has the largest flowers of all plants. The plants are endoparasites of vines in the genus Tetrastigma (Vitaceae) and lack stems, leaves, roots, and any photosynthetic tissue. They rely entirely on their host plants for both water and nutrients, and only then emerge as flowers from the roots or lower stems of the host plants.
Tetrastigma is a genus of plants in the grape family, Vitaceae. The plants are lianas that climb with tendrils and have palmately compound leaves. The species are found in subtropical and tropical regions of Asia, Malaysia, and Australia, where they grow in primary rainforest, gallery forest and monsoon forest and moister woodland. Species of this genus are notable as being the sole hosts of parasitic plants in the family Rafflesiaceae, one of which, Rafflesia arnoldii, produces the largest single flower in the world.
Sapria is a genus of parasitic flowering plants in the family Rafflesiaceae. It grows within roots of Vitis and Tetrastigma. The genus is limited to the tropical forests of South and South-east Asia.
Rafflesia keithii is a parasitic flowering plant in the genus Rafflesia endemic to Sabah in Borneo. The flowers can grow up to one metre in diameter. It is named after Henry (Harry) George Keith, former Conservator of Forests in North Borneo.
Rafflesia philippensis is a parasitic plant species of the Rafflesiaceae family that was named by Francisco Manuel Blanco in his Flora de Filipinas in 1845. The species is known only from a mountain located between the provinces of Laguna and Quezon, Luzon where it was first discovered. Its plant host is Tetrastigma pisicarpum. This species went unnoticed since its first description by Blanco but was rediscovered in 2003 by members of the Tanggol Kalikasan, a local environment conservation group in Quezon province who first saw and photographed the open flower of this species. It was brought to the attention of Manuel S. Enverga University (MSEUF), who formed a team composed of students and faculty to document the newly discovered Rafflesia species.
Rafflesia zollingeriana is a species of flowering plant in the family Rafflesiaceae, native to Java. It was first described by Sijfert Hendrik Koorders in 1918. Of three species of Rafflesia known from Java this species has always been the most rare and restricted, in the 1960s it was only known from low elevations on the eastern flanks of Mount Watangan, the tallest volcano of the Tengger Caldera in the Lumajang Regency in southeastern Java. It had perhaps also been seen on neighbouring Mount Sadeng in Jember Regency.
The Borneo lowland rain forests is an ecoregion, within the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome, of the large island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It supports approximately 15,000 plant species, 380 bird species and several mammal species. The Borneo lowland rain forests is diminishing due to logging, hunting and conversion to commercial land use.
Rhizanthes is a genus of four species of parasitic flowering plants in the family Rafflesiaceae. They are without leaves, stems, roots, or photosynthetic tissue, and grow within the roots of a few species of Tetrastigma vines. The genus is limited to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. The flowers of Rhizanthes are very large, they vary from 14 to 43 cm in diameter. At least one species of Rhizanthes, Rh. lowii, is endothermic.
Rhizanthes lowii is a species of parasitic flowering plant without leaves, stems, roots, or photosynthetic tissue. It grows on the roots of the Tetrastigma vine. It includes the specimens with the largest measured flowers in Rhizanthes, from 25 to 43 cm across. They are endothermic, not only producing their own heat, but they also have the rare ability to regulate their own temperature.
Rhizanthes infanticida is a species of parasitic flowering plant without leaves, stems, roots, or photosynthetic tissue. They grow on roots of the Tetrastigma vine. They are found in the tropical forests of southern Thailand, western Malaysia, and Sumatra. The brown flowers are from 14 to 22 cm across.
Rhizanthes zippelii is a species of parasitic flowering plant without leaves, stems, roots, or photosynthetic tissue. They grow on roots of the Tetrastigma vine. They are found in the tropical forests of Java. The flowers are reddish-brown, with long hanging tips, and are from 16 to 29 cm across.
Rafflesia verrucosa was first identified and characterized during a small mammal survey of Mt. Kampalili in eastern Mindanao in 2010. R. verrucosa is the tenth species of Rafflesia found in the Philippines. Rafflesia species have rare and unusual flowers known for their large size and pungent smell. Some plant enthusiasts like Frits W. Went have gone to extreme measures to see these plants in bloom. Went detailed his search for Rafflesia saying,
"I had heard, when I was in Java many years ago, that Rafflesia were to be found on an offshore island named Nusah Kembangan. This was in 1929, when it was a penal colony for major criminals. My driver on this occasion was a convicted murderer, and my guide was serving time for cannibalism."
Rafflesia consueloae is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia endemic to the island of Luzon in the Philippines. It is the smallest species of the genus Rafflesia.
The Gunung Gading National Park is a national park in Kuching Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. The park is located roughly two hours drive from Kuching, and is a popular destination for seeing the Rafflesia flower in bloom. After 10 years as a conservation zone to protect the Rafflesia, the park opened to visitors in 1994. The park also has a number of jungle trails to waterfalls or to the 965m summit of Gunung Gading.
