The biggest flower in the world
The most spectacular flower native to Indonesia is the Rafflesia Arnoldii, the largest flower in the world. It is rare and endangered.

Parasite
The plant is a parasite. It is totally dependent on a vine called tetrastigma. Rafflesia has no roots, stem or leaves of its own, so it drains nourishment from the vine it lives on, and is physically supported by it. Before it flowers, it consists of strands of fungus-like tissue that grow inside the vine.

The flower
At first there is a tiny bud on the vine's roots or stem, and over about a year it grows bigger, looking rather like a cabbage head. The bud opens during a rainy night. The flower is bright red, is almost one metre wide and weighs up to 10 kilograms. In the centre of the flower is a large cup with a spiked disc in it. Underneath the disc are either stamens or stigmas, depending on whether or not the plant is male or female. The flower must attract flies and beetles to go inside under the disc so they take pollen away to another Rafflesia flower so that new plants can be formed. To attract the flies and beetles, the flower smells like rotting meat. Indonesians call the flower 'corpse flower' because of the smell. The flower lasts for about a week then dies.

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If you use any of this information in your own work, acknowledge this source in your bibliography like this:
A Trip to Indonesia (2001). [Online], Available: www.kidcyber.com.au

Updated 1 March 2001