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October 29, 2008 : Rafflesia kerrii
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Plant Family / Families: Rafflesiaceae
Scientific Name and Author: Rafflesia kerrii Meijer
Name Location: Khao Sok National Park, Thailand
Ruth S., with another write-up:
Shona Ellis is the lucky lady that was guided to this masterpiece of a flower in Thailand's Khao Sok National Park in December 2007. Thank you, Shona, for contributing this beautifully disgusting photo!
Pee eeuuhh! A parasite of Terastigma vines in southeast Asia, the genus Rafflesia is a very strange one indeed. This angiosperm has no leaves, roots or stems. It is completely dependent on its vine host as its hyphae-esque threads invade the vine's woody tissues. Of the 16 known species of Rafflesia, the most famous is Rafflesia arnoldii, gaining recognition for having the largest flower on Earth (approx. 1 meter or 3 feet in diameter). As an aside, recognition for the largest inflorescence in the world goes to Amorphophallus titanum, commonly known as the corpse plant or titan arum.
Plants of this species of Rafflesia are only visible when in bud and flower. The bud starts out as a brown bract-encased ball and, over the course of a year, matures to a cabbage-looking mass that then opens up to display its huge, fleshy, 5-merous flower. The thick brown bracts are visible in one of the pictures provided above. Blowflies are observed to be the target pollinators of Rafflesia kerrii, and for this reason a very special cologne is brewed up and worn by the flower. The gag-inducing scent of rotting flesh is excreted for the week that this flower lives. The smell has been compared to that of a rotting buffalo carcass. I think this would make a perfect Halloween costume, although you might be spending it alone...BOO!
Wikipedia has more on Rafflesia kerrii.
Daniel adds: For those of you who interested in the Schizophyllum commune entry from a couple days ago, do check out amadej@UBC BG Forum's images submitted in response to the entry for more spookiness: Schizophyllum commune.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at October 29, 2008 5:20 PM
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Comments
Posted by: Katy S at October 29, 2008 8:03 PM
I know, I know these things smell bad. I've been told in graphic detail. I still want to see one in person before I die! (I mean, hopefully not *right* before - can you die of a particularly nasty scent?)
Posted by: C.C. at October 29, 2008 8:23 PM
Beautiful. I need to see one in nature sometime. I love plants like this.
Posted by: Rob Blomquist at October 29, 2008 8:31 PM
OMG!! This has got to be one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. And slightly creepy - but then it's the season for that too. :)
Posted by: Behty at October 29, 2008 9:06 PM
The world's foremost authority on Rafflesia, Dr. Kamarudin Mat-Salleh, is very active on Flickr and has a spectacular collection of Rafflesia photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kmatsalleh/collections/72157602297881740/
Posted by: Eric in SF at October 29, 2008 9:24 PM
The posts here never cease to amaze me. Such a beautiful world, so many wonders.
Posted by: EJ at October 29, 2008 9:47 PM
in this winter seeing such red flower just like
grate! i feel so calefaction from this hot red flower !
i 've been just know that must be flower with leaf together, its nature principle !
thank you very much let me know how is amaze wonderful the world ! nature power is so mystification ! wonder who is make the world ! lol...
thank you all very much !
lavender
Posted by: lavender at October 29, 2008 10:43 PM
Pronunciation? I can find ră-flē'zhə and raf-FELZ-ee-uh. It supposed to have been named for Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, 19th century zoologist and founder of the British colony at Singapore, so the second pronunciation would seem more reasonable, but there are more internet references that give the first suggestion.
Posted by: Wendy Cutler 
at October 29, 2008 11:51 PM
Howdy Shona,
Thanks for the pictures. They bring back fond memories. I have not seen R. kerrii but have seen R. arnoldii. The floral buds had been collected for ages as they are reputed to have medical value. That together with the destruction of the natural habitat and fauna are causing the demise of the world most efficient parasitic plant that also produces the world's largest flower.
Peace
Thean
Posted by: Thean Pheh at October 30, 2008 6:06 AM
Wow. Just Wow.
Posted by: van at October 30, 2008 7:35 AM
i think ruth has the mind of a nine year old boy
i live in florida -i am a battle ground state
it would seem that one of our politicans
wandered across the border
Posted by: elizabeth a airhart at October 30, 2008 8:14 AM
que aula de vermelhos!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: siusi at October 30, 2008 8:29 AM
Theres an excellent section in "The Secret Life of Plants" with David Attenborough on Rafflesia, though i'm not sure quite which section (the one about pollinators maybe?). It is an absolutely fantastic series if you have not seen it. Lots of plants growing in stop-motion and the like. Even my friends who think plants are boring really enjoy it. Sir David shows a couple different stages of the bud and flower growth and quite clearly pronounces the genus name (though hes british, so he pronounces some things somewhat strangely, like glah-see-uh for glacier.)
Posted by: Joe at October 30, 2008 9:16 AM
I've never seen anything so magnificently and fascinatingly eeeeeewwww before. Even before I read the description of the rotting-corpse odor, just the picture alone gave me the creeps, and yet... can't... look... away...
Posted by: Lynne at October 30, 2008 9:18 AM
Available at The Little Shop of Horrors?
Posted by: Debby at October 30, 2008 9:26 AM
Great photos Shona :)
Posted by: Janelle at October 30, 2008 10:24 AM
Yes, big hand to Shona for tolerating the smell long enough to take all those photos!!
Posted by: Katherine at October 30, 2008 10:36 AM
Türkiyeden selamlar..
Posted by: Faruk at October 30, 2008 1:19 PM
There is a very similar plant that is growing at the Huntington Gardens in San Marino, California. It flowers every several years. The flower is huge but grows upright then opens. It has the same smell and last time I heard of it flowering (it was in the news), I went to see and smell it. It did have flies buzzing around and it did smell like rotting meat.
Posted by: Terry at October 30, 2008 3:42 PM
I have a confession to make. The flower had just opened and it actually didn't smell bad at all......what a disappointment!
Posted by: Shona Ellis at October 30, 2008 6:45 PM
if this big flower have rotting meat smell let me remeber Durio !
it just like beautiful mushroom keeping poison.but so fantastic !
thank you
lavender
Posted by: lavender at October 30, 2008 10:28 PM
Durian
Posted by: lavender at October 30, 2008 10:32 PM
I find it highly amusing and biologically intriguing that BOTH the largest flower and the largest inflorescence on Earth attract their pollinators with the scent of rotting flesh...???
Grins,
Mike Bush
Santa Barbara, CA
Posted by: Mike Bush at November 7, 2008 2:49 PM
can the flower get any bigger and if it can how bigger and where is the stem?????
Posted by: zeniqua brown at January 8, 2009 11:13 AM
I'm with C.C., second post above...
and hopefully not *right* before I die!
I also find this rather beautiful, in a slightly intimidating way.
Posted by: Mary Ann, in Toronto at October 29, 2009 6:23 PM
Please share your comments about the photograph(s) and accompanying write-up. Telling a story about the subject of the photograph(s) is also much appreciated! If you have a gardening question, the best place to ask is on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Thank you!
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Fantastic! Thank you Shona.