The largest flower in the world, larger than 1 m in diameter and weighing 10 kg or more, is called rafflesia. The unusual parasitic plant will surprise with its history and way of life. Get to know him better.
Discovery history
This amazing plant originally from Southeast Asia has several other names given to it by the locals - scavenger flower, dead lotus, stone lotus, carcass lily.
Rafflesia was discovered in 1818, when one of the flowers grew up to 90 cm in diameter and 6 kg - these dimensions already impressed the expedition team. The dead lotus was discovered during the exploration of Sumatra. The group leader Thomas Raffles, who is also the founder of Singapore, noticed a strange plant. In his honor, and called the family of plants. But the first flower discovered was named after one of the members of the expedition, Joseph Arnold - Rafflesia Arnoldi. 
Did you know? According to unofficial sources, the parasitic flower was discovered by the Frenchman Louis Deschamps 20 years earlier than the official date - 1797 But the records and illustrations about the corpse lily were seized by the British, who attacked the ship of the explorer.
The inhabitants of the island used flower infusions for medicinal purposes - to restore the female body after childbirth and to improve the male power.
The width of the largest representative of the stone lotus is almost 107 cm. There is no larger flower on the planet.
Description
Now rafflesia can be found in the jungle not only on the island where it was found, but also on the islands of Kalimantan, Java, Malacca, and also in south-east Asia. 
Did you know? The smallest flower on the planet the size of a pinhead grows in tropical forests and is called wolfia.
When opened, the bud lives only up to 4 days, and after flowering it begins to decompose. It is difficult not to recognize him: a large round depression in the shape of a bowl is surrounded by 5 fleshy petals. Inside the groove is a collection of stamens and carpels.
From the base, which is called the disk, is the expansion of the recess upwards. The disk is covered with spikes. From the plant is the smell, like from rotten meat. It attracts insects such as flies for pollination.
There are about 30 types of rafflesia - each of them has its own characteristics. The smallest, rafflesia patma, has flowers up to 30 cm, and in tuan-mude they are already about 1 m. The color of flowers is bright red and brown with spots on the background.
According to the way of life and nutrition, the plants of epiphytes are amazing - orchids, guzmans, schlumbergers, achmeas, platiceriums, vriezii, ripsalis, epiphyllums, tillandia.Flowers are most often of both sexes, there are also polygamous, when in addition to same-sex there are also male. They do not use photosynthesis, rafflesia does not even have the usual leaves.
Features of the plant
Rafflesia grows and lives by the so-called master. Most often it is creepers or roots of trees that hit the surface of the earth.
Important! Not every tree is suitable for the life of a scavenger lily, a prerequisite - the sap of these plants must awaken the lily seed.
Rafflesia chooses her place of residence very carefully, since she will eat only thanks to the second plant. To do this, she has a sucker on the roots, which absorb all the nutrients, while the owner does not die.
After hitting the desired plant, thin processes that are located under the bark of the nursing plant come out of the seeds. How small seeds penetrate the plant itself is still a mystery.
Learn more about predatory plants - sarracenia, nepentes, zhiryanka, sundews, venus flytraps.
Flower life
For almost a year and a half, the seed inside the host does not make itself felt - with the help of suckers on its roots, it feeds on all the necessary substances. After the seed ripens, a kidney appears at the site of introduction - a peculiar growth on the bark. Sometimes it takes up to 3 years from sowing to growth. This is the future flower bud that matures from 9 months to 1.5 years.
Learn more about exotic plants - passiflora, ixia, azimine, feijoa, callistemon, muray, hymenocallis.After pollination of a blossoming flower, fruits appear on it that ripen to 7 months. They look like berries, and inside them are seeds. Rafflesia propagates with the help of insects, as well as large animals that trample the fruit and spread these seeds throughout the jungle.
Important! From 2-4 million seeds, only a few take root. And those who could not get into the right plant, die off over time.
Now the exotic plant is under threat of extinction: permanent deforestation of tropical forests reduces the number of places for the life of rafflesia.
We have learned that rafflesia in the jungle can be found according to this characteristic: when it blooms, it is enough to be guided by the smell of spoiled meat. But since the flowering period does not last very long - only the lucky ones can get lucky to meet this strange lily.
What rafflesia really is - watch the video
They do not smell much, only in hot weather they drank and when they are already fading, they are bent.Tanawa
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With this rafflezia we crawled so much in 2009 =))) Yes, I confirm, I personally saw Khao Sok. Yeah, and we were there (for they were "all-inclusive" backpackers), we crawled by ourselves, without any help. Even in the off-season. It was cool. Then. Remember. We found her, miserable. last year's remains and a bud with my head size. We crawled there in August, and we must look at rafflesia in February. But leeks land in August expanse. Nasty creatures. I, as a biologist by education, say this, who seems to be supposed to love any living creature, but we somehow didn’t work out with leeches. not. They just happened to me, after all. Fun occupation of them from your experience ... otkovyrivat ... Something like that =)))And this mushroom is nothing unique for us, Rus, is not. His relative, called Phallus impudicus (note the name of the genus), lives in our vast forests, and in common people is called VESELKA. Also not casual. =) look at Wikipedia //ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%BB%D1%8E%D1%81 Trora, why did you hurt yourself so much ?? ? Just wondering =) It didn’t work out the same way as I did with leeches? =)
arctika
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