Rafflesia

Description:

large parasitic bloom, faint odor of rotting meat, about 16" in diameter

Habitat:

mountain rainforest

Notes:

I saw this near the village of Sibalom. I went there specifically to see Rafflesia. There were some buds at the time but no blooms. My guide estimated that they would bloom in a week. I came back exactly a week later and one had just opened up. Rafflesia flowers are the largest single blooms in the world. Rafflesia speciosa was discovered in 2002. The number of Rafflesia species (Rafflesiaceae) reported for the Philippines has grown explosively from two before 2002 to ten or eleven presently. R. speciosa is found only on the islands of Panay and Negros.