Many
of you may have made a New Year’s resolution to take more time to stop
and smell the flowers, but you may want to pass if you come across
Rafflesia, which emits a smell similar to decaying flesh when the petals
begin to rot. This stench attracts flies which pollinate the 3 foot
wide bloom, which is the largest single flower on the planet.
There are 17 known species of the parasitic Rafflesia,
which attach only to a certain species of vine in the rainforest. It is
difficult to distinguish between host vine and the Flower, which makes
it difficult to determine the conservation status of some Rafflesia
species. The numbers of those that have been categorized are dwindling,
ranging from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered.
For more information: http://www.kew.org/
http://www.arkive.org/
Photo credit: Ch'ien C. Lee
Many
of you may have made a New Year’s resolution to take more time to stop
and smell the flowers, but you may want to pass if you come across
Rafflesia, which emits a smell similar to decaying flesh when the petals
begin to rot. This stench attracts flies which pollinate the 3 foot
wide bloom, which is the largest single flower on the planet.
There are 17 known species of the parasitic Rafflesia, which attach only to a certain species of vine in the rainforest. It is difficult to distinguish between host vine and the Flower, which makes it difficult to determine the conservation status of some Rafflesia species. The numbers of those that have been categorized are dwindling, ranging from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered.
For more information: http://www.kew.org/
http://www.arkive.org/
Photo credit: Ch'ien C. Lee
There are 17 known species of the parasitic Rafflesia, which attach only to a certain species of vine in the rainforest. It is difficult to distinguish between host vine and the Flower, which makes it difficult to determine the conservation status of some Rafflesia species. The numbers of those that have been categorized are dwindling, ranging from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered.
For more information: http://www.kew.org/
http://www.arkive.org/
Photo credit: Ch'ien C. Lee
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