Rafflesia Flower

good morning steemit friend today i will share a little story about rafflesia flowers

Rafflesia is a genus of parasitic flowering plants. He was found in the rainforest of Indonesia by a guide from Indonesia who works for Dr. Joseph Arnold in 1818, and named after Thomas Stamford Raffles, the leader of the expedition. It consists of approximately 27 species (including four that are not yet fully known characteristics as identified by Meijer 1997), all of its species found in Southeast Asia, in the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, and the Philippines. This plant has no true stems, leaves or roots. Rafflesia is an endoparasite in the vines of the Tetrastigma genus (Vitaceae family), spreading its root-like haustorium within the vascular tissue. The only part of the Rafflesia plant that can be seen outside its host plant is a five-crowned flower. In some species, such as Rafflesia arnoldii, the diameter of the flowers may be more than 100 cm, and weigh up to 10 kg. Even the smallest species, Rafflesia manillana, flowers are 20 cm in diameter. The flowers look and smell like rotting meat, which is why it is called a "carrion flower" or "flesh flower". The unpleasant smell of the flowers attracted insects like flies and dung beetles, which brought pollen from male flowers to female flowers. Little is known about the seed distribution. However, other squirrels and forest mammals are eating their fruit and spreading the seeds. Rafflesia is the official flower of the Indonesian state, as does Surat Thani province.

The name of "carrion flower" used for Rafflesia is confusing because this common name is also used to call Amorphophallus titanum (giant suweg / stem krebuit) of the Araceae family. Moreover, since Amorphophallus has the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world, it is sometimes mistakenly regarded as the greatest flower in the world. Both Rafflesia and Amorphophallus are flower plants, but their kinship relationship is far away. Rafflesia arnoldii has the largest single flower in the world from all flowering plants, at least when one judges by its weight. Amorphophallus titanum has the largest unbranched inflorescence, while the Talipot palm (Corypha umbraculifera) has the largest branched inflorescence, composed of thousands of flowers; this plant is monocarpic, which means each individual died after flowering.
that's my short story about rafflesia flowers, may be useful for steemit friends.