Largest flower on earth

[Deshan]

Fully open flower of Rafflesia arnoldii.

Rafflesia arnoldii is a member of the genus Rafflesia. It is noted for producing the largest individual flower on earth. It occurs only in the rain forests of Sumatra and Borneo in the Malay Archipelago.



This Rafflesia flower can have a diameter up to one meter and can weigh up to 10 kilograms. It also smells like rotting flesh.


Flower bud, in a later stage of opening.
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Flower bud, with scales still unexpanded.
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Closer view of the flower showing the diaphragm surrounding the floral opening.
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Close-up of the perigone lobe showing the pattern.
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Top view of the disk showing the processes.
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Side view of the disk from a dissected flower.
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View from inside a Rafflesia flower.

Rafflesia is a parasitic plant that lacks roots, stems, and leaves. Usually botanists trace plant orders using chloroplast DNA, but since Rafflesia does not have chloroplast genes, Todd Barkman, assistant professor of biological sciences at Western Michigan University, and his team instead analyzed the Rafflesia's mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which corresponds to chloroplast DNA.

The above photos were taken by Mr. Davis who formerly maintained a web site called SumatraFlora - On-Line Nursery. This site is no longer available, but at the time he provided a number of photographs of interesting plants from Sumatra, including Rafflesia arnoldii.

[mohan_sliit]

Thankx.. Its nice

[Deshan]