THE RAFFLESIA
The King of Flowers
It is the largest flower in the worldknown to man and native only to thetropical rainforests of South-East Asia.
The flower which is a genus of parasitic flowering plantswas first discovered in 1797 in Java, Indonesiaand named after Sir Stamford Raffles.
There 15 to 19 species of this particular flowerranging in various sizes, including the more distinctiveRafflesia Arnoldii (pictured above) that is thelargest in size and most commonly gazetted.
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WATCH THIS!
If you have some time to kill, come follow theJensen Family all the way from Denmark as theyembark on a journey to the jungles of Malaysia tocatch a rare glimpse of the Rafflesia Flower.
They really really very on hor?
I wish i could do something like that too...
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DID YOU KNOW?
The Rafflesia is infamous for its foul odour,but did you know, indigenous indonesian tribesuse the plant for ickey-eewy medicine, while inThailand, the plant is considered erm... a delicacy. Yeuch!
The Rafflesia only flowers for 5 to 6 days,before the petals blacken and the flower withers.The "Flowering Beast" will then begin to createit's distinctive pungent smell of rotting meat,attracting blue bottle flies for pollination.
I guess, for this King of Flowers,smelling fragrant just doesn't cut it anymore!
(but an occasional bath won't hurt right?)Winston
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