THE RAFFLESIA FLOWER ARNOLDI

The vast archipelago and the great number of islands have made indonesia the home of large variety of plant life. The Indonesia flora ranges from the tiny orchid to the giant rafflesia plant. No womder many botanists are anxious to stady plants here.
The Rafflesia Arnoldi is the biggest flower in the world. It is unusual because of its large size. it has a flower almost a metre in diametre and 1.40 metres in height.
Rafflesia is derived from the name of the British Governor General. Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, who once governed and built the Botanical Gardens in Bogor. Though it is called Rafflesia after Raffles, the man who discovered the plant was Becarry, an Italian botanist who visited Sumatra in 1928.
The Raffleria plant begins to flower in its tenth year. It blooms three or four times a year. Before it begins to flower, the leaves and the stem become dry and look dead, but the main root in the ground is still alive.
While the flower is blossoming, it has a very unpleasant smell which attracts insects, especially green flies. They seen eager to explore the fower, but it the flies touch the bottom part of the stick-like centre, they dia.