Rafflesia arnoldii - Rafflesia arnoldii

The King of Flowers is the largest flower in the world, growing in tropical forests on the Indonesian islands and Sumaitra; Malaysia.

When the flowers bloom
(Photo: conservation)

The shape of this flower tree is very bizarre, but it does not have roots and no leaves nor leaves, obviously nothing worth being called a tree. Because it is just a flower, a giant flower should be honored as a king.

Already a king, of course there must be servants and servants. The King of Flowers lives parasitic with his only flower stalk inserted into the underground roots of the white chalk ( cissus ).

The largest diameter of flower king to 1.4m; usually weighs 4-5kg, with cotton weighing up to 50kg. Five petals are red, succulent, each petal is 30-40cm long, 20cm thick, in the middle is stamen and honey disc. The disc has a diameter of about 33cm, 30cm high if it carries water, can hold 5-6kg.

The color of the flower is very beautiful, when the newly hatched fragrance smells, but a few days later rots like the smell of dead mice, cannot be sent. Thanks to this rotten smell, flies and insects have gathered to help the king of the "transmission of life" for descendants. Flowers are big, but the fruits are extremely small. Fruit often stick to elephant legs to find new land

(Photo: greenpeace)