The rafflesia makes the biggest single flower in the entire world! Its enormous reddish-orange bloom can grow up to three feet across, which is about as wide as a car tire. The really wild thing about this plant is that it has no leaves, no stem, and no roots at all. It lives hidden inside a jungle vine like a secret passenger, and you cannot even tell it is there until the giant flower suddenly bursts out! The rafflesia grows in the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia, in countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Just like the corpse flower, the rafflesia smells absolutely terrible, like rotting meat and old garbage. This gross smell is actually a clever trick to attract flies, which land on the flower and help carry pollen to other rafflesia flowers so new plants can grow. The flower only lasts about five to seven days before it turns black and shrivels up, so spotting one in the wild is very rare and exciting. The rafflesia is sometimes called the “monster flower” because of its giant size and awful smell. Many countries are working hard to protect this amazing plant because it is becoming harder and harder to find in the wild!
