Rafflesia - it is this creation of nature that bears the proud title of "the largest flower in the world." True, this plant surprises not only with its size, but also with its other qualities, which have little to do with the usual ideas about flowers. After all, the largest flower is a fetid, bright red plant, sometimes exceeding human height. By the way, because of the disgusting smell, Rafflesia is often called a corpse lily. Although the locals call this plant "lotus flower" ("bunga patma"). You can see it in the tropical forests of Indonesia (Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan) and the Philippines.
The largest flower in the world got its name in honor of officer T. Raffles and botanist D. Arnold. The discovery was made on the island of Sumatra. The mentioned discoverers measured the flower, gave it a name and a scientific description.
Surprisingly, the largest flower in the world is not able to independently synthesize some of the organic and mineral substances it needs. Therefore, the named plant, despite its size, parasitizes on vines. To do this, it releases special threads that penetrate the tissues of vines,without doing them any harm. The named flower has no roots and no green leaves.
The growth of rafflesia is not too fast. The bark of the plant, under which the parasitic flower seed develops, swells after 1.5 years, and after 9 months a red flower blooms. Rafflesia consists of 5 thick brick red petals with bright white wart-like growths. From afar, the described flower looks like a giant fly agaric. True, it blooms only 4 days. In appearance, rafflesia resembles rotting meat and has the same putrid smell. Thus, the largest flower in the world can be smelled faster than seen. After a period of flowering, rafflesia decomposes for several weeks and soon turns into a black shapeless mass. If pollen enters the female flower, then the development of the fetus begins, in which there are thousands of seeds.
It is the unusual smell of rafflesia that attracts flies that pollinate this flower. Getting on the flower disk, the flies flounder in it, gradually falling down. In the annular furrow, fine hairs direct the flies to the stamens, which shed sticky pollen on their backs. Insects weighed down with a burden go to the female flowers, fertilizing their ovules. But after ripening, the plant needs the help of a large animal that can crush the fruit and transfer the Rafflesia seeds to another place. It is worth noting that the largest flower in the world that has blossomed can be 1 m in diameter and weigh about 8 kg. ExceptIn addition, rafflesia has the widest inflorescence.
At the moment, scientists identify 12 types of rafflesia. The most famous among them are rafflesia tuan muda and rafflesia arnoldi. These species have the largest flowers. Even rafflesia sapria in diameter reaches 15-20 cm. It is interesting that the Indonesians claim that the extract from the buds of the named plant helps in restoring the figure after childbirth. As for scientists, they admit that the life of this unique flower has not yet been fully studied.
