Entertaining botany [With transparent illustrations] Tsinger Alexander Vasilievich

8. Rafflesia Arnoldi

8. Rafflesia Arnoldi

Which flower is the largest in the world? Botanists give a very definite answer to this question. This is one of the rafflesias living on the island of Sumatra, namely Rafflesia Arnoldi ( Rafflesia Arnoldi), first found by European naturalist Arnold in 1918. To get to know this monstrous flower in person, we would have to make a long journey and get to the wilds of the tropical forests covering the island of Sumatra. We usually see this island on small-scale geographic maps, and therefore have little idea that it is a whole large country. The length of Sumatra is about 1800 kilometers, i.e. equal to the distance approximately from Moscow to Constantinople. The area of ​​the island is about 480 thousand square meters. kilometers, i.e. approximately equal to the entire Germany. The dimensions are impressive. The main population of the island is the Malays. About 4 million of them live there. It's not thick at all. The neighboring island of Java is approximately 30 times more densely populated. The Malays, exploited by the Dutch who own the island, are dying out and degenerating.

Rice. 89. Rafflesia Arnoldi.

The mountainous interior of Sumatra is covered with rugged tropical forests, in which we could find a lot of all sorts of wonders, including wild orangutans. One should not think that a lush tropical forest for a pedestrian making his way through it is more beautiful and pleasant than our northern forests. On the contrary, experienced travelers say that the mightiest forests, growing under warm showers in countries of eternal summer heat, produce a very gloomy impression. All the abundance of varied foliage is above, and below there is twilight, rotting trunks of broken trees, a rotting layer of fallen leaves, suffocating, damp, hot air.

Taking a closer look at the vegetation of the tropical forest, you can easily notice two features. Firstly, the amazing abundance of different tree species. In our middle zone we hardly count a full four dozen different tree species. There are more than three thousand of them growing in Sumatra. It affects a huge number of different vines - climbing plants with perennial stems.

It is difficult to pass by near rafflesia without noticing it. It makes itself felt... with a disgusting stench.

Its smell, similar to the smell of rotting meat and excrement, serves it for the same purpose for which many fragrant flowers serve their subtle pleasant aromas. Rafflesia attracts insects to itself for the sake of pollination, and the most convenient insects for it are flies and bugs that feed on all kinds of carrion. These insects swarm around rafflesia and swarm in its stamens and pistils. The huge rafflesia flowers - sometimes more than a meter across - have five thick petals of red with spots of a paler shade. The shape of the flower is like a flower, only the size is gigantic.

And what size are the seeds obtained from such a giant flower? Not only not large, but absolutely as amazingly small as the seeds of our broomrapes.

The largest flower in the world grows from the tiniest seed and grows not on some huge tree, but right on the ground, without any stem.

Rafflesia- this is the smallest representative among the flowers of giants, such as and. But still, the dimensions of the flower are impressive: weight up to 7 kg and up to 100 cm in diameter.

Flower corpse lily(as the plant is called in its homeland - on the Indonesian island of Sumatra) looks very impressive: a huge inflorescence of a red-burning color, with equally large fleshy petals with white convex inclusions. However, it is better to admire this beauty from a distance, since Rafflesia emits the smell of decomposing meat, i.e. fell. No matter how strange it may sound, this terrible aroma “plays into the hands” of the giant flower - dung flies and some other insects flock to it. They pollinate the corpse lily.

Rafflesia is a rare plant; they can only be found on the islands of the Indonesian and Philippine archipelagos (the islands of Sumatra, Java, Malacca, Kalimantan and the Philippines). The largest and at the same time the most famous variety of rafflesia is Arnoldi, slightly less common are rafflesia Patma And Touan Mude.

Rafflesia blooms for only 3-4 days, and if during this time it does not have time to pollinate, the entire plant will die. And if the flies do come to the “sweet” aroma, then Rafflesia forms an unusual hard fruit with hundreds of thousands of small seeds inside.

Further reproduction is even more interesting. The rafflesia fruit is very hard and does not open on its own, so in order for the seeds to spread throughout the forest, the flower requires the help of some large animal, for example an elephant. It sounds a little incomprehensible, but in fact everything is simple - large animals crush the fruits of rafflesia and spread the seeds of the miracle flower on their paws or hooves.

Rafflesia is a giant flower, the largest in the whole world. The plant gained its fame not only due to its enormous size, but also due to the specific putrefactive aroma that it spreads around itself. Due to this, the flower received an additional name - dead lotus.

History of the discovery of rafflesia

Rafflesia was officially discovered in 1818. The flower was found in the tropics of Indonesia, on the island of Sumatra. The expedition that discovered the plant was led by Sir S. Raffles. The first to see was the guide, assistant naturalist D. Arnold. The specimen that was found was striking in its enormous size. Moreover, the flower did not have a stem or roots. The found plant received its name from the names of the expedition leader and naturalist doctor.

Areole distribution

Rafflesia has more than thirty different species. This plant is found only in Southeast Asia. The rafflesia arnoldia flower grows only in Kalimantan. All other species are found in Java, the Philippines and Malacca. Giant flowers grow only in the jungle, but due to their massive deforestation, plants may soon completely disappear from our planet.

Description of the flower

The only part of the plant that is visible is the flower. It grows through the bark. The flower grows from 60 to 100 centimeters in diameter, weighing up to eight kilograms. The color is brownish-reddish, with large white spots. The size of the flowers depends on the type of plant.

For example, the weight of Rafflesia Arnoldi can be up to ten kilograms, and the diameter of the opened bud can be up to a meter. In Patma it is much smaller - only thirty centimeters. The diameter of the flowers of Rafflesia rhizantes and sapria ranges from 10-20 cm.

Rafflesia is a flower that has five fleshy petals, each three centimeters thick, which are attached to a cup-shaped core. In its center there is a column (or column), expanding upward. There is a disk covered with spikes.

Flower propagation

Rafflesia has fruits that resemble huge berries, which contain many seeds (up to four million). Of course, they are inedible and easy to get poisoned by. The plant cannot reproduce on its own. Insects and animals help him. They step on the fruits and spread the seeds throughout the jungle. Insects are attracted to the bright color and smell. When moving, their legs fall into the furrow, and the seeds are glued with sticky pollen. But even out of a million spores, only dozens germinate.

Bloom

The victims of the plant are mainly trees whose stems or roots are damaged. In this case, no harm is done to them. Rafflesia is a giant flower, but grows slowly. The place to which the plant is attached begins to swell after a year. This period can be up to eighteen months. A full bud appears in approximately 2-3 years.

Rafflesia is pollinated mainly by flies. They are attracted by the putrid smell emanating from the flower. The plant itself lives a long time. The bud can take three years to ripen, and several more months are required for the flower to open. Its life after the bud opens lasts only a few days. Then the flower begins to gradually rot, turning into a black, shapeless mass.

After the process is completed, a new ovary is formed. It develops over seven months. Then, at the site of the ovary, a small fruit appears, looking like a huge berry. It contains very small seeds the size of a poppy seed.

Uses of rafflesia

The rafflesia flower, a photo of which is in this article, is used in folk medicine. The plant is used for recovery after childbirth. Flowers are also used as an aphrodisiac. The properties that are attributed to it do not have scientific confirmation.

Residents of the islands of the Philippines and Indonesia are convinced that rafflesia (giant flower) helps restore potency. After childbirth, women make an extract from the buds of the plant to regain a slim figure. This same remedy has long been used by aborigines as a natural hemostatic drug.

In Malaysia, there is a park-reserve where rafflesia is specially grown. And in many varieties. To constantly attract tourists, the timing of the opening of rafflesia buds is selected so that at the height of the season you can admire the magnificent giant flower. Of course, this increases the interest of tourists in this country.

Rafflesia has a competitor - Amorphophallus titanica. It has the tallest inflorescence. The plant emits an unpleasant odor, and the width of the flowers is as close as possible to the size of rafflesia.

An amazing plant grows on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan - Arnold's rafflesia (Rafflesia arnoldii). Rafflesia got its name in honor of the British governor of the island of Java, Raffles Stamford, and the English doctor and naturalist Joseph Arnold, who worked on his expedition - he was the first to discover a strange flower in the rain forests of Sumatra. This happened in 1818.

Europeans also call it corpse lily, and in Sumatra it is called “bunga patma”, which means “lotus flower”. However, rafflesia does not even remotely resemble either a lily or a lotus.

The diameter of rafflesia flowers is 60-100 cm (the maximum recorded size is 106.7 cm), and the weight reaches 8-10 kg! The rafflesia flower consists of five fleshy petals covered with light, warty spots. Each petal is about 3 cm thick and about 46 cm long. It’s like pieces of meat! The smell of the record-breaking flower matches its appearance, and here we get to the explanation of why it got the name corpse lily: the fact is that it smells... like rotten meat!

The fact is that the pollinators of rafflesia are not butterflies or bees, but dung flies. The smell of rotting meat attracts them. The appearance of the flower probably also plays an important role: on a poisonous red background there are light, irregularly located spots of irregular shape.

About a year and a half after the seed lands on the vine, a thickening similar to a bud appears under its bark. Having reached the size of a child’s fist, the “bud” opens, revealing brick-red petals rolled into a bud to the world. The bud matures from nine months to one and a half years, but blooms only for a few days.

A rafflesia bud looks like a rotten head of cabbage

Rafflesia flowers are bisexual. If the female flower is lucky and gets pollen, it will form an ovary. Over the course of seven months, it develops into a berry-shaped fruit filled with thousands of seeds. And faded rafflesia begins to quickly decompose, gradually turning into a shapeless black mass.

Rafflesia seeds are spread by animals, to whose limbs the contents of crushed fruits stick, as well as by insects.

Due to the fact that the area of ​​tropical forests is now rapidly declining due to massive cuttings for plantations, all types of rafflesia are under threat of complete destruction.

Strictly speaking, Arnold's rafflesia is the widest flower on Earth. Its competitor for the title of the largest flower in the world is Amorphophallus titanica - the owner of the tallest inflorescence. However, in terms of the width of the inflorescence it can also compete with rafflesia. .

The fruits contain a significant number of seeds (from 2 to 4 million) and are shaped like berries. Seeds are spread by animals. Most often, trees with damaged roots or stems become victims of Rafflesia. The foul odor and appearance of the flowers attract pollinating insects (mainly flies). The life cycle of Rafflesia Arnold is quite long. It can take three years just for a bud to appear, and several more months are needed for the bud to open into a full-fledged flower.

The life of the flower itself is short (about 2-4 days), after which it begins to decompose.

Area

In nature, Rafflesia Arnolda is common in Southeast Asia, on the islands of Kalimantan (Borneo) and Sumatra.

Threats

Rafflesia Arnold's habitats are now very popular with tourists, providing income for local residents as well as incentives for species conservation. But unfortunately, as a result of ecotourism and human intervention, the average annual reproduction rate of Rafflesia buds has decreased markedly in many places.

Usage

Flower buds are used in traditional medicine for recovery after childbirth. They are also used as an aphrodisiac. It is likely that the above uses are related to the shape, color, size of the buds, and superstitions surrounding the flower, and not to the actual scientifically based medicinal properties of the plant. The Rafflesia Arnolda flower is an iconic symbol of the rainforests of Southeast Asia and is often used in tourism brochures to symbolize the rich biodiversity of the region's forests. The flower can also be seen on Indonesian postage stamps, and flowers of the related species Rafflesia are often depicted on postage stamps in Southeast Asian countries.

The forest areas where Rafflesia Arnolda grows are popular among ecotourists, providing stable income for local people and conservation programs

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