Listen up. I didn't see one of these. I'm sorry. I wish I had. But I've been reading about them. They're native to Indonesia. Let me show you what I've found:
"Rafflesia arnoldii is the world’s largest flower having a diameter of about one meter and weighing up to ten kilograms. It is a rare flower and not easily located. It grows only once a year and blooms for around five days. According to researches in discovery news, this flower that looks and smells like rotting flesh is related to flimsy flowers like violets, poinsettias and passionflowers. Hence it also called as “meat flower” or “corpse flower”. The flower is pollinated by flies and carrion beetles attracted by its vile smell. It contains about 27 species and found in Indonesian rain forests...
Rafflesia is a genius of parasitic flowering plants. It was discovered in Indonesian rain forest by an Indonesian guide working for Dr Joseph Arnold in 1818 and thereafter it was named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles."
Shall we take that line by line?
It's a metre high, weighs up to 10 kilos, smells like a dead fox and it's "not easily located". Hmm.
It "is related to flimsy flowers like violets, poinsettias and passionflowers. "Hence it also called as 'meat flower'' or 'corpse flower'." Hmm.
It "smells like rotting flesh... was discovered by a guide working for Dr Joseph Arnold... and was named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles." Do you think Stamf was popular? Best friends with Dr Arnold? I wonder.
It's "is a genius of parasitic flowering plants." Yup. I reckon.
Then I found the titan arum. Another Indonesian whopper. Online again. Didn't see it when we were there. Rank bad luck. Here goes. The flower can reach "over 3 metres in height" and "the spadix is hollow and resembles a large loaf of French bread":
"Rafflesia arnoldii is the world’s largest flower having a diameter of about one meter and weighing up to ten kilograms. It is a rare flower and not easily located. It grows only once a year and blooms for around five days. According to researches in discovery news, this flower that looks and smells like rotting flesh is related to flimsy flowers like violets, poinsettias and passionflowers. Hence it also called as “meat flower” or “corpse flower”. The flower is pollinated by flies and carrion beetles attracted by its vile smell. It contains about 27 species and found in Indonesian rain forests...
Rafflesia is a genius of parasitic flowering plants. It was discovered in Indonesian rain forest by an Indonesian guide working for Dr Joseph Arnold in 1818 and thereafter it was named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles."
Shall we take that line by line?
It's a metre high, weighs up to 10 kilos, smells like a dead fox and it's "not easily located". Hmm.
It "is related to flimsy flowers like violets, poinsettias and passionflowers. "Hence it also called as 'meat flower'' or 'corpse flower'." Hmm.
It "smells like rotting flesh... was discovered by a guide working for Dr Joseph Arnold... and was named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles." Do you think Stamf was popular? Best friends with Dr Arnold? I wonder.
It's "is a genius of parasitic flowering plants." Yup. I reckon.
Then I found the titan arum. Another Indonesian whopper. Online again. Didn't see it when we were there. Rank bad luck. Here goes. The flower can reach "over 3 metres in height" and "the spadix is hollow and resembles a large loaf of French bread":
See... it's HUGE.
The titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum (from Ancient Greek amorphos, "without form, misshapen" + phallos, "phallus", and titan, "giant") is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world.
Due to its odour, which is reminiscent of the smell of a decomposing mammal, the titan arum is also known as a carrion flower, the "Corpse flower", or "Corpse plant" (Indonesian: bunga bangkai – bunga means flower, while bangkai means corpse or cadaver; for the same reason, the same title is also attributed to Rafflesia which, like the titan arum, also grows in the rainforests of Sumatra).
This is what I mean when I say that I found things tropical to be out of proportion.
The titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum (from Ancient Greek amorphos, "without form, misshapen" + phallos, "phallus", and titan, "giant") is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world.
Due to its odour, which is reminiscent of the smell of a decomposing mammal, the titan arum is also known as a carrion flower, the "Corpse flower", or "Corpse plant" (Indonesian: bunga bangkai – bunga means flower, while bangkai means corpse or cadaver; for the same reason, the same title is also attributed to Rafflesia which, like the titan arum, also grows in the rainforests of Sumatra).
This is what I mean when I say that I found things tropical to be out of proportion.
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