Nick Volpe
Rafflesia keithii
One of the most interesting groups of plants in the world, the famous Rafflesia'a are holoparasitic towards a genus of vines in the south-east Asian rainforests. They have no leaves, stems or roots, with the ginormous flower sprouting above the surface the only visible part of the plant outside of the vine host. This flower can reach a metre in diameter and only lasts a matter of days!
The flower gives off a foul odour which gives it the name 'Corpse Flower', but the purpose is to attract flies to collect pollen for transport, which can be seen in the closer image.
Rafflesia keithii is named after Harry Keith, a British plant collector who helped conserve large tracts of rainforest in Sabah. These flowers can be seen for a very short amount of time by very lucky people like ourselves in the Poring Hot Springs region along the slopes of Mount Kinabalu.
Rafflesia keithii
One of the most interesting groups of plants in the world, the famous Rafflesia'a are holoparasitic towards a genus of vines in the south-east Asian rainforests. They have no leaves, stems or roots, with the ginormous flower sprouting above the surface the only visible part of the plant outside of the vine host. This flower can reach a metre in diameter and only lasts a matter of days!
The flower gives off a foul odour which gives it the name 'Corpse Flower', but the purpose is to attract flies to collect pollen for transport, which can be seen in the closer image.
Rafflesia keithii is named after Harry Keith, a British plant collector who helped conserve large tracts of rainforest in Sabah. These flowers can be seen for a very short amount of time by very lucky people like ourselves in the Poring Hot Springs region along the slopes of Mount Kinabalu.