Rafflesia arnoldii - the "meat flower"
We had to prepare a speech about parasitic plants, in our class, a couple of years ago. I want to share some of the interesting stuff that I learned. It is about a huge flower called Rafflesia arnoldii.
Rafflesia arnoldii is a parasitic flowering plants. It was discovered in the Sumatra Islands in Indonesian. R. arnordii has the largest single flower of any flowering plant in the plant kingdom. This plant has no roots, stems or leaves. The only visible part of the plant is the five-petaled flower. In Rafflesia arnoldii, the flower may be over 40 inches in diameter, and weigh up to 10 kilograms or 22 pounds. A peculiar feature found in this parasitic plant is its smell. The flowers smell like rotting flesh, hence its local name as the “meat flowerâ€, or the “corpse flowerâ€. The odour from the flower attracts insects such as flies and carrion beetles (carrion beetles feed on dead animals)
The name “corpse flower†also refers to another flower discovered in Sumatra island, called the Arum lily. You can read about Arum lily here: http://www.ikolam.com/node/3413
Sumathi.v
Sun, 2009-09-06 23:49
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In our school we have a practise of each class conducting the assembly everyday. Once my students presented a topic on this Rafflesia where they actually made a flower out of paper to the real dimension which attracted everyone's attention.
jayamohan
Tue, 2009-09-08 07:38
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I've heard about this but seeing one only now!
sudhabalakrishnan
Tue, 2009-12-08 01:01
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its is very excellent for a school project
judelined
Tue, 2009-12-08 02:25
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What a pity it has such a bad smell
rajamma_2
Wed, 2009-12-09 20:38
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This flower is found in Indonesia. I study in Singapore, so according to the history , the founder of Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles, travelled to Indonesia to study plants as the rainforests there were full of nature. While studying the plants and wild animals there, he discovered the Raffelsia and concluded that it was the smelliest flower he had gone across. In the end, Raffelsia was the smelliest flower on earth.
Hope you appericiate the information i have passed on.
Cherrio!
sahana
Lata
Wed, 2009-12-09 21:57
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Yes, we appreciate the information you've given us Sahana. Now I know where the flower gets its name from.
I'm sure you're having a good time during your vacation.
judelined
Thu, 2009-12-10 01:20
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That was a lovely piece of information Sahana - thanks a ton I learned something new today