Background

• Parasitic plants live off a host plant. Unlike most plants, Rafflesia doesn't have any leaves or chlorophyll and doesn't produce any of its nutrition through photosynthesis. The plant consists of a large, fleshy flower that breaks through the stem of a vine and blooms for only a few days. The flower smells like rotting meat. Rafflesia evolved to attract flies and other insects as pollinators. Two other Asian parasitic plants, Sapria and Rhizanthes, have only two species each and are close relatives to Rafflesia.
  
  

Parasitic Plant

• The parasitic plant genus Rafflesia includes about 17 species in Southeast Asia, according to Western Michigan University. They target a certain species of common grape vines, Tetrastigma as their hosts. The largest of these plants, Raflesia arnoldii, grows in Indonesian rainforests. The bloom bursts forth with no leaves or stem and can measure three feet across. These thick, fibrous flowers can weigh up to 15 lbs. Although the Rafflesia live off their host plants, unlike some parasitic plants, they don't kill their hosts.
  
  

Features

• The fully opened Rafflesia features large, fleshy lobes as its petals. These lobes tend to be red, orange or brown and covered in a wart-like texture. The flowers are unisexual, either male or female, and most locations have flowers of only one sex, limiting the prospects for reproduction. The a round, deep center opening in the bloom leads to spiky projections called processes that are probably the source of the plant's rotting meat odor. When flies or other insects enter the flower's opening seeking food or an egg-laying site, they brush against pollen.
  
  

Considerations

• Pollination is rarely successful for Rafflesia because the flowers last only five to seven days and the destruction of their growing areas limits the chances of an insect visiting a widely separated male and female Rafflesia. Removing these plants from their habitat can kill the Rafflesia and its host, making them difficult to study.
  
  Researchers attempting to propagate Rafflesia haven't succeeded. These plants grow only in their native habitats, and these habitats are disappearing due to deforestation. Saving these habitats is the only hope of saving Rafflesia and other rare plant and wildlife species.