Nature & Environment

Largest example of world's largest flower found

By T.K. Randall
January 4, 2020

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) Named after British colonialist Sir Stamford Raffles who first discovered the species in the 19th Century, the Rafflesia tuan-mudae is a large, red flower that easily exceeds one meter across.

In addition to its size, the flower is also characterized by its acrid stench of rotten flesh which helps to attract flies and has earned it the nickname 'corpse flower' in several regions.

The new record-breaking specimen measures a whopping 111 centimeters across and is situated in a nature reserve near Marambuang Nagarai Barini village in West Sumatra.The previous record, which was also found in the same region, measured 107 centimeters across.

Once the flower blooms it will typically wither and rot away within the space of just one week.

WORLD'S BIGGEST FLOWER? Indonesian conservationists say they've spotted the biggest specimen ever of what's already been billed as one of the world's largest flowers: a giant Rafflesia tuan-mudae spanning 3.6 feet in diameter. https://t.co/rH56lhWgBJ pic.twitter.com/2baj2lLpIT

— ABC News (@ABC) January 4, 2020

Source: Phys.org

Tags: Flower