World’s largest flower Rafflesia arnoldii blooms in Indonesia

The conservationists in Indonesia stated that they have identified the biggest specimen ever of the world's largest flowers. The giant Rafflesia tuan-muda-e is a fleshy red flower with small white blister-like spots on its huge petals. It measures to be around 111 centimetres (3.6 foot) in diameter. 

It has beaten the previous record of  107 centimetres on a bloom which was found in the jungles of West Sumatra a few years ago. Ade Putra at the Agam Conservation Agency in Sumatra said that it is the largest Rafflesia tuan-muda-e that has ever been documented.

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Flower's bloom last for a week

He added that the flower's bloom will only last for about a week before it gradually falls and rots. It was named Rafflesia after British colonialist Sir Stamford Raffles who spotted one in Indonesia in the early 19th Century.

The species is found in several Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines where a 100-centimeter specimen was identified and recorded.

The flower is sometimes referred to as the corpse flower since it releases meat like smell to attract insects. Rafflesia tuan-muda-e is a member of the Rafflesiaceae family and lives as a parasite on the Tetrastigma vine. The enormous flowers may reach over 1 metre in diameter.

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About the flower

The buds normally emerge where the vine is growing along the ground, unlike some of the other Rafflesia species whose buds can emerge from vines hanging in the air.

One of the easiest locations to see R. tuan-mudae is at Gunung Gading National Park, at the park headquarters or near Waterfall 7 in Sarawak. In July 2008, one of the largest flowers measuring 95 cm was recorded in the park. 

In the Malaysian language, tuan-muda-e translates as 'Beloved or young Prince' after Charles Brooke the British Raja of Sarawak. Locally the flower is referred to as bunga pakma - "bunga" means "flower" in Malaysian.

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