When you think in a flower maybe you may
thinking in beauty and fragrance, but there is a flower in Malaysia that it
doesn't have these qualities. Its name is Rafflesia (Rafflesia arnoldii).
The Rafflesia is the biggest flower in the world, it’s very
beauty but her fragrance is like rotting flesh. Its petals are reddish brown
with white speckles. It's a parasitic plant without
any leaves, stems and roots and it can measure about a meter in diameter
and weigh about ten kilos.
This flower doesn't carry out
photosynthesis because it doesn't have chlorophyll. Contrary to what
may seem, it's not a carnivorous plant, it feeds on the roots of a host
tree (the Tetrastigma vine, which is found only in rain forests).
With its pestilent odor, reminiscent of rotting flesh and you can
smell from several feet away, attracts carrion flies in order to carry out
pollination.
Rafflesia flowers are unisexual and
the sexual organs are located beneath the rim of the disk. This flower has a small life of 5 - 7 days, it can be seen in bloom for only seven days.
Amira.
