In a rare occurrence, an Indonesian man came across the largest flower in the world while trekking through a forest. The carnivorous bloom is also called the ‘Corpse Flower’ due to its innate ability to smell like rotting flesh to attract insects. The formal name of the flower is Rafflesia arnoldii—a species of flowering plant in the parasitic genus Rafflesia. It is the largest individual flower on Earth and is native to the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo. Taking to micro-blogging platform Twitter, ‘Now This’ shared a short clip of the discovery. Take a look at this beautiful flower which only “blooms for a couple of days.”
A man came across this rare flower while walking through an Indonesian forest. The rafflesia arnoldii is the largest flower in the world & only blooms for a couple of days. It is colloquially known as a corpse flower for the overpoweringly stinky odor it emits while mid-bloom. pic.twitter.com/LJmJDgfpqd— NowThis (@nowthisnews) September 28, 2022
The Rafflesia flower is also known as one of the three national flowers of Indonesia. It is known to be exceptional due to its extraordinary size and rarity of growing. Several other types of plants with larger flowering organs, such as the Amorphophallus titanum or Titan Arum consist of smaller clusters of many flowers.
The caption of the clip revealed that the rotting corpse-like smell only emanated when the Rafflesia flower is in full bloom. The caption further read:
“A man came across this rare flower while walking through an Indonesian forest. The Rafflesia Arnoldi is the largest flower in the world & only blooms for a couple of days. It is colloquially known as a corpse flower for the overpoweringly stinky odor it emits while mid-bloom.”
The rare parasitic plant largely lives underground and reportedly, the bloom happens to last for only a day. The next day, the bright red colored flower falls apart and emits a strong smell akin to rotting flesh, which helps the plant in drawing insects. The plant then traps the insects to absorb the various nutrients present. The Rafflesia flower can grow up to a maximum diameter of three feet and can weigh around seven kilos. There are a total of 20 species of this rare flower in the world, with several found in countries with tropical humid climates such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
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