and the founder of modern Singapore, once a British trading post. The
f lower of this rare and exotic species smells like rotten f lesh, so it’s
easy for pollinators to find it in the forest. The Raff lesia, often called
the stinking corpse lily, produces the largest f lower in the world—as
big as 40 inches (102 centimeters) in diameter. That’s more than 3 feet
(1 meter) across! The plant’s beautiful orange f lower usually opens for
only four days a year and then shrivels into a black, slimy mess. The
horrid smell it emits attracts carrion f lies. When the f lower is in bloom,
f lies move around inside it, collecting its sticky and gooey pollen on
their bodies. In this way, they transfer pollen between male and female
parts of the f lower, enabling fertilization.
The Rafflesia doesn’t have leaves to carry out photosynthesis. Instead, this parasitic plant
latches onto a tropical grapevine and extracts nutrients from this host. The Rafflesia also
smells like rotting meat, an odor that entices insect pollinators.
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N I N J A P L A N T S
