WORLD'S LARGEST AND STINKIEST FLOWER

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEREMY HOLDEN 

The flowers of Rafflesia Arnoldii are the largest in the world. 

Rafflesia is known as the world's largest and stinkiest flower, and it is also called the "corpse flower" or "corpse lily" due to the smell of rotten meat. The rotten smell of the flower is due to the reddish tentancle-like structure inside the corolla of the petals. Rafflesia have become famous for their meat-decomposing stench, which draws flesh-eating flies. This flower has special features, including a leathery surface and a speckled five-petaled flower. This flower is found only in Malaysia, Brunei, Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Indonesia, southern Thailand, and the southern Philippines. In fact, Rafflesia is an iconic symbol of the Southeast Asian rainforest.

 

These are some interesting facts about Rafflesia. This flower is a parasitic plant that has no leaves, stems, or roots and does not photosynthesise. Instead, it uses long filaments that look like fungal cells to extract food and water from tropical jungle vines. This corpse flower spends most of its life hidden within the vine but then produces a cabbage-like bud that turns into a giant rubbery flower. It stays open only for 5 to 7 days. In some species, such as Rafflesia Arnoldii, the flower can be over 100 centimetres in diameter and weigh up to 10 kilogrammes. When a Rafflesia flower blooms, it emits an overpowering scent of rotten meat. Here is a video of a rafflesia opening its petals. Let's watch it! Kindly click the link below.

Source: https://youtu.be/WBSM2JvFqKM?si=5tlKFq9nUs-jEUnP 

Although this flower is categorized as a parasitic plant, it has various benefits for society. Here are the benefits of rafflesia to society:

 

1. Rafflesia's buds that are boiled can be used by women to stop internal bleeding and shrink the womb after childbirth. This is a traditional method for treating wounds and helping to restore their health and strength. It is also what the indigenous peoples of northern Borneo believe to flush the placenta and restore the figure.

 

2. In Sakai tribes in Malaya, it was used as a love potion and to hasten childbirth.

 

3. In Thailand, young buds of the flower are eaten as a delicacy, and they believe this flower has mystical powers that could help one attain nirvana (a person's individual desires and suffering go away).

 

4. In Sabah, the Rafflesia was considered a flower of spirits or a taboo flower because of its foul smell and gigantic size.

 

5. Rafflesia is depicted on the Malaysian RM10 banknote and stamps, an important symbol to Malaysian people.

 

6. The buds can also be used as a traditional treatment for fever in some cultures.

 

7. An attraction to tourists in Southeast Asia and one of the contributors to the economic development of countries

 

Dr Victor A. Pogadaev, a former lecturer at Universiti Malaya holding

a RM10 banknote beside a Rafflesia found in Lojing, Kelantan

Source: https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2023/09/950569/preserve-rafflesia-habitats 

Today, there are 42 species of Rafflesia that are critically endangered. Thus, what are the reasons Rafflesia is critically endangered? The two main things endangering Rafflesia are slash-and-burn agriculture and logging operations. In order to create room for plantation crops like oil palms, rubbers, and commercial forestry species, thousands of hectares of forest are cut down and burned. This will lead to deforestation and destroy the diversity of environments. Besides, there are people who collect Rafflesias as souvenirs when they find them. These botanical oddities attach themselves to only a limited number of species of liana available. In addition, Rafflesia is in danger of extinction due to habitat loss as well as poaching. This is because its buds are harvested and sold for medicinal properties. This plant cannot grow in captivity, and the seed of Rafflesia is hard to spread; thus, the breeding of Rafflesia is seldom and take years to grow. Rafflesia is vulnerable and only has a short life span. This is a picture after a Rafflesia has bloomed.

PHOTOGRAPH BY RADEK DETINSKY/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

After blooming, the flowers quickly blacken and decay. 

The existence of Rafflesia is important to society as it gives a lot of benefits. Hence, it will affect society if it goes extinct, especially people in Southeast Asia. One of the effects is losing traditional medicine by using Rafflesia's bud. This will lead to the loss of traditional treatment methods that only depend on modern medicines. Besides, the tourism sector is one of the keys to the economic development of countries. Most of Southeast Asia's attractions are its flora and fauna. It is proven that Rafflesia has become one of the contributors in the tourism sector. For instance, in Sarawak, Malaysia, many tourists have come to see the largest Rafflesia in the world, which is Rafflesia Arnoldii. It is located in Gunung Gading National Park in Kuching. The authorities have created a tourist tour where they explain the ecology of the Rafflesia flower while hiking along the park trails. This way, they can see the flower with their own eyes and keep coming to the place, as it has its own attraction. Consequently, losing Rafflesia means losing one of the iconic symbols for tourist attractions in Southeast Asia. Moreover, Malaysian people will only know Rafflesia from their banknotes and stamps; not many people from around the globe know about Rafflesia or have seen Rafflesia physically with their eyes. As a result, the economic development of these countries will collapse. Other than that, many cultures have their own beliefs and practices about using Rafflesia as something that is useful and helpful to them. Without Rafflesia, these beliefs will go to waste and not be able to be practiced anymore. Plus, if Rafflesia becomes extinct, it will affect the ecosystem of the environment, and more habitats of flora and fauna will become endangered.

 

Rafflesia Arnoldii as a symbol in Malaysian stamps. 

Just before you go, I would like to ask you 2 questions, one, what is your opinion on this issue and secondly, what should we do to conserve Rafflesia in order to create a sustainable environment in the society? Comment your thoughts below :)

PHOTOGRAPH BY GETTY IMAGES 

In some countries, the buds, prized for their purported medicinal properties, 

are sold at roadside stands. 

EVALUTION OF WAYS TO CONSERVE RAFFLESIA 

Apart from its rarity and threats, why is Rafflesia in need of urgent conservation measures? This is because no one has successfully managed to grow the flower using artificial methods. The only way to safeguard this flower is to preserve its habitat. Hence, there must be solutions in order to conserve Rafflesia in the country. One of the solutions that should be taken is to have greater protection of Rafflesia habitats and focus on populations most at risk. This being said, habitat protection is the best tool for conserving Rafflesia. Southeast Asia has the fastest disappearing forests on the planet, and many of the known Rafflesia populations are located in the human housing area. In my opinion, the action that should be taken in Malaysia is to establish an organization specifically to conserve the habitats of Rafflesia in order to make sure that this flower does not go extinct. There has been an organization in Kelantan that has been established. According to the article Managing and Protecting Endangered Rafflesia Species in Kelantan, Pennisular Malaysia, written by M. Fauzan et al. (2021), the efforts that have been taken by the Kelantan State Forestry Department (KFD) in ensuring the sustainability and survival of this gigantic flower in its natural habitat. This department has also declared an area of 1000 acres in Lojing Highlands as the Rafflesia Preservation Area. Personally, these kinds of organizations should always have protected areas monitored to ensure that there is no encroachment, especially by illegal loggers, so that ecological services are maintained without interruption.

Other than that, Rafflesia takes years to grow from seed to bud and another 12 to 15 months for it start flowering, but sadly, it only blooms for a week. Thus, there must be a way to increase the growth of this flower and the duration of blooming much longer. I would suggest that a research team be developed in order to find a suitable method where rafflesia could grow faster and stay blooms for quite some time. It will surely take some time to manage finding the methods, but I believe that by doing this, the habitats of rafflesia will continue to exist and grow. Thus. it is possible that future generations will be able to see rafflesia with their own eyes. 

Moreover, planting Rafflesia as much as it can be done is a good idea for conserving its species. As one of the readers commented, society needs to step up in conserving these unique species. I would propose to create a park where the rafflesia are planted as much as they can and are limited to the public's reach. Hence, creating a reserved park that only contains rafflesia is a way to protect this flower. Thus, illegal activities such as logging and poaching can be avoided. Plus, by creating this kind of park, the species can be taken care of and monitored by the conservation team.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, Rafflesia is indeed an important symbol in Southeast Asia, especially in Malaysia. I believe that losing this world's largest and stinkiest flower will affect society and the environment. This is supported by a reader by the name of Zaki, who says that Rafflesia has its own significant values towards the locals and the world. Hence, just imagine the outcomes if we lose these precious flowers. Moreover, Rafflesia is the pride of Malaysia, as supported by a comment by Danishsima, and it is the most attractive flower after hibiscus, according to her. Hence, all the deforestation and poaching activities that are causing this flower to nearly go extinct are the most irresponsible things that a person can do. In my opinion, if this kind of illegal activity is still continuously done by the people, it is possible that Rafflesia will be wiped out of the world. As a result, the next generation will never see Rafflesia with their own eyes and will just become an extinct species. Lastly, from my perspective, all the actions in conserving and protecting Rafflesia are important to be done together in society. With this being said, everyone must take action to safeguard the Rafflesia habitat in order to have a sustainable environment. Therefore, the unity of society within various cultures will help to protect the endangered species of rafflesia from going extinct.

REFERENCES

Abdullah, S. M. (2017, February 11). Protect Rafflesia by educating tourists. NST Online. https://www.nst.com.my/news/2017/02/211359/protect-rafflesia-educating-tourists

Conserving The Rafflesia. (n.d.). https://rafflesiaflower.com/conserving-the-rafflesia/#:~:text=For%20threatened%20plant%20species%20like,land%20where%20rafflesia%20colonies%20thrive.

M Fauzan, A M Muhammad-Hapiz, R Azizul, S Rosilan¹, A H Hamidi, I Zahari¹, E R Aweng, M A Mohamad-Faiz, M A Abas, H Kamarul-Ariffin^. (2021). Managing and protecting of endangered Rafflesia species in Kelantan, Pennisular Malaysia. IOP Conference. Series. Earth and Environmental Science. https://doi:10.1088/1755-1315/842/1/012069

Rafflesia Facts. (n.d.). https://rafflesiaflower.com/rafflesia-facts/

Researchers issue urgent call to save the world’s largest flower. (2023, September 21). Rafflesia - From Extinction | University of Oxford. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2023-09-21-researchers-issue-urgent-call-save-world-s-largest-flower-rafflesia-extinction#:~:text=Habitat%20protection%20was%20identified%20as,close%20to%20growing%20human%20settlements.

The largest flower in the world is a parasite | Harvard Magazine. (2020, June 24). Harvard Magazine. https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2017/02/colossal-blossom#:~:text=The%20buds%20and%20blooms%20are,placenta%20and%20restore%20the%20figure.

Weston, P. (2023, September 20). The world’s largest – and stinkiest – flower in danger of extinction, scientists say. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/20/the-worlds-largest-and-stinkiest-flower-in-danger-of-extinction-rafflesia-aoe