Did you know which flower boasts the largest bloom in the world? It’s called the Rafflesia arnoldii and can be found in the rainforests of Indonesia. The Rafflesia can grow to weigh up to 15 pounds and 3 feet across. Yes, we mentioned 12 feet somewhere, just keep reading…
This flower is parasitic plant: it attaches itself to a host plant to get its unfair share of water and nutrients. This plant is weird in its own ways – it has no visible stem, leaves or roots. The odor emitted by the Rafflesia in bloom is a repulsive one and resembles that of rotting meat, yuck! And that’s meant to be a flower…But it is this odor that ensures it doesn’t go extinct. It attracts insects and other agents of pollination to do their thing.
But the Rafflesia isn’t what has brought us here today. It is another humongous counterpart of it called the Amorphophallus titanium, also found in Indonesia. This beats the Rafflesia when it comes to odor and this has earned it the nickname the ‘corpse flower’. Yes, the largest flower reeks of death! Pollinators are also attracted to the Titan arum by the rotting smell. Of all flowering plants, this has the largest unbranched inflorescence the world over. It can reach heights of 7-12 feet, and weighs almost 170 pounds!