The Rafflesia

   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.