How The Name "Rafflesia" Started
Rafflesia comes after the name of an adventurer and founder of the British colony of Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles. After a jungle expedition in Sumatra(Indonesia) in 1821-22, Raffles and Dr.Joseph Arnold, a young accompanying assistant surgeon in the Navy with a passion for natural history. At the time Sir Stamford was the Governor of Sumatra and while riding on horseback,crossing jungle clad mountainous Sumatra, both of them came across (discovered) this fabulous flower.
A born naturalist Raffles immediately took note of the flower which came to be name Rafflesia arnoldii (after the 2 explorers)
There are about 20 described species of Rafflesia, some only discovered as recently as 1988. They are found on peninsular Malaysia and southern Thailand, on Borneo Island. In the restricted areas of the Philipines and in Sumatra
Description and Characteristics
Lets get the facts out of it (Scientific Name: Rafflesia ssp)
- The world's largest flower weighing about 9 kg and almost 1 meter wide
- Totally dependent on one particular vine called Tetrastigma (related to the grapevine)
- The Rafflesia is a disembodied flower. A rootless, leftless and stemless parasite, it drains nourishment and gains physical support from its host vine. Its only body outside the flower consists of strands of fungus-like tissue that grow inside the Tetrastigma vine. It first manifests itself as atiny bud on the vine's stem. Most buds rot before they attain maturity, but when they finally open nine or more months, they display five huge, fleshy petals that can reach in extreme cases almost one meter in diameter and weigh over seven kilogrammes
- Over a period of 12 months, it swells to a cabbage like head that bursts around midnight under the cover of a rainy night to reveal this startling, lurid-red flower. Beauty turns beastly in only a few days. The Rafflesia only flowers for 5 to 6 days, before the petals blacken and the flower withers. The "flowering Beast" begins to smell like a rotting meat, attracting blue bottle flies for pollination
Habitat
Where they can be found
The Rafflesia is generally found at altitudes between 500 and 700 meters in the forests of Borneo, Sumatra and Java, Peninsular Malaysia and Philipines. In this tropical rainforests the climate is continuously warm, generally between 24-27 C with humidity frequently reaching 100% at night.In Sabah (North Borneo) a Rafflesia Conservation Area has been set aside near Tambunan. It is an area where there is an unusully high concentration of Rafflesias and one is almost guaranteed to see Rafflesia in bloom.
Rafflesia In Sabah (North Borneo)
Commons and Rare Species
There are 3 type of Rafflesia that can be found in Sabah:1. Rafflesia keithii Meijer
2. Rafflesia pricei Meijer
3. Rafflesia tengku-adlinii (rarest species)
Link Information to Rafflesia
- Rafflesia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Rafflesia is a genus of parasitic flowering plants. It was discovered in the Indonesian rain forest by an Indonesian guide working for Dr. Joseph Arnold in ...
- Rafflesia arnoldii in bloom. Photographed in West Sumatra, Indonesia.
- Several species of Rafflesia grow in the jungles of Southeast Asia, all of them threatened or endangered. Rafflesia arnoldii is the largest; its blossom ...
- Rafflesia
- a penetrating smell more repulsive than any buffalo carcass in an advanced stage of decomposition" (Mjoberg, 1928) There are approximately 17 Rafflesia ...
- Genus Rafflesia
- Rafflesia is a genus of flowering plants that is made up of of 16 known species. The best known of these species is Rafflesia arnoldii, which has the ...
- Rafflesia - Rafflesia spp - ARKive
- ARKive - Images of life on Earth. A new digital library of photographs, film clips and accompanying information about endangered species, ...
- Stinking Flowers
- The authors estimate that for Rafflesia there was a 79-fold increase in flower ... Like Rafflesia, male and female flowers appear from buds that break ...
- All Malaysia.info
- Everyone's dream should include seeing the Rafflesia - the largest flower in the ... At the entrance of this reserve is a Rafflesia Information Centre. ...
- rafflesia
- Borneo is the center of diversity for the Rafflesia. In Sarawak it is found in the Gunung Gading National Park in Lundu. Visitors can call National Park ...
- Resource Library - Rafflesia: Searching for a Rainforest Spectacle ...
- The Rafflesia is one of Malaysia's most well known icons of the tropical forest, join REZA AZMI as he explains its conservation and attraction for tourists ...
- What is the largest flower in the world? (Everyday Mysteries: Fun ...
- The flower with the world's largest bloom is the Rafflesia arnoldii. ... Rafflesia arnoldii in bloom - This site contains the photography of Karl Lehmann of ...
- Rafflesia Research & Monitoring Team
- You may want to read about my Sabah Rafflesia Tour 2007 in the Rafflesia-in-Bloom. Here is detail contact information in case you want to contact them. ...
- Tambunan Rafflesia Centre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Tambunan Rafflesia Centre is one of the popular viewing spots of the Rafflesia flower in Sabah. It is located an hour's drive from Kota Kinabalu city. ...
- Rafflesia Arnoldii
- The largest flower in the world comes from a leafless plant from Mayla. It'sa parasitic plant that has grapevine like roots and a fleshy flower which is the ...
Threats
Most species are highly localised and are therefore vulnerable to extinction because of habitat disturbance and host cutting from activities such as land clearing,logging, and ethnobotanical collecting. The first two activites are important in threatening the Borneon species while in Peninsular Malaysia over collecting by local people who sell the buds for medicine is apparently the greatest threat. Conservation
Because of its rarity, knowledge of the biology and ecology of Rafflesia has been slow to accumulate. Even today, little is known about its reproductive biology and distribution, which in itself poses many problems for its conservation.(Three species are believed to be already extinct)
As Rafflesia is found in only a handful of localities, its long term survival is now seriously threatened by the the depletion of the Malaysian rainforest.
Recently successess from Sabah have indicated that Rafflesia can be artificially grown on host plant.
Several Areas where the Rafflesia spp. are protected includes Kinabalu Park and Crocker Range Park in Sabah and Gunung Gading National Park in Sarawak.
To a certain degree, it maybe protected within the National Park.
Different Species of Rafflesia
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Anthophyta
Subphylum: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rafflesiales
Family: Rafflesiaceae
Genus: Rafflesia
Species include: arnoldii, priceii, keithii, tengku-adlinii,cantleyi, gadutensis, hasseltii, kerrii, pricei, rochussenii,tuan-mudae, manillana, patma, micropylora
Phylum: Anthophyta
Subphylum: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rafflesiales
Family: Rafflesiaceae
Genus: Rafflesia
Species include: arnoldii, priceii, keithii, tengku-adlinii,cantleyi, gadutensis, hasseltii, kerrii, pricei, rochussenii,tuan-mudae, manillana, patma, micropylora
R.rochussenii
R.tengku adlinii
R.cantleyi
R.arnoldii
R.keithii
R.pricei
R.kerrii
R.hasseltii
R.manillana
R.tuan-mudae
R.micropylora
Reproduction
The visible part of the Rafflesia's life cycle happens only when it is ready to reproduce. A tiny bud forms on the outside of the vine's roots or stem, which develops over a period of about a year to a cabbage-like head that eventually opens to Reveal the flower. Inside the flower is a spiked disk, to which either stigma or stamens are attached, depending on the sex of the plant. The odor of the plant attracts flies and beetles into the plant to pollinate it. Pollination in Rafflesia is thought to be a rare occurrence due to several factors. Firstly, the flowers are unisex and for the most part are found only in proximity to same sex plants. In order to have successful reproduction, the insect pollinators have to visit both male and female plants, which not only are frequently not in close proximity to each other, but are also not necessarily mature and open at the same time. To complicate matters is the fact that the flowers last less than a week, leaving a narrow window of opportunity for pollination.The fruit produced by Rafflesia is round and about 15cm in diameter, filled with smooth flesh and thousands of tiny hard coated seeds. The flesh attracts squirrels and tree shrews which are thought to be the main distributors of the seeds.
Click here for Rafflesia in different stages
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Rafflesia Arnoldii Potret
Not everyone's perfume
We expect flowers to smell lovely, or at the worst to have no scent at all. There is one flower, however, which really stinks. Rafflesia lives in the jungles of Sumatra, Borneo and part of Philipine and is the largest flower in the world - it's a metre wide. This huge flower spreads its leathery, wart-covered petals just above the surface of the forest floor. In the centre is a vast, spike-filled cup from which comes the putrid stench of rotting, dead flesh. So what could possibly be persuaded to approach this monstrous flower? Flies that feed on decomposing bodies swarm to it, expecting a feast, and happily transfer pollen as they come and go.
The Largest Flower in the World
David Attenborough explains the functions of fungi and parasites in the jungle. The "corpse flower," which weighs up to 10 kg in some species, is the only visible part of the parasitic plant Rafflesia,
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View from Inside a Rafflesia Flower
A Rafflesia Bud Photo
My Rafflesia's Bookstore
Flower Gifts
Art Galleries Pinnacle
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Rafflesia Plants Feedback
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Ilona1
Oct 17, 2011 @ 9:44 am | delete
- Great lens. This flower is fabulous in a repellent sort of way ;)
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studyaids
Sep 26, 2011 @ 3:08 pm | delete
- A wonderful lense with excellent photos.
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NotTooTall
Aug 30, 2011 @ 9:14 am | delete
- Hi Marc3ll,
Wow . . . what an amazing plant. It doesn't look quite real, it's so big. gtrat photo of the inside of one.
N T T
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daria369
Aug 27, 2011 @ 3:27 pm | delete
- Fascinating story about an unusual flower. Very much enjoyed it. Blessed! :)
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Irenemaria
Aug 11, 2011 @ 1:41 pm | delete
- Amazing plant! Wish I could see it and touch it in real life.
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