Smelly flowers disappearing - 23rd October 2023

The national flower of Indonesia is in danger. The Rafflesia, also called the stinking corpse lily, grows in Southeast Asia.

It’s a giant red flower which smells like dead animals. It uses its smell to attract flies.

Rafflesia is native to Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines and is well-known in indigenous cultures.

Indigenous groups make medicine and tonics from this flower. But this information is unknown to western scientists.

The forests are the natural habitat of these flowers and they can’t be grown on farms. But the forests are quickly disappearing because of deforestation. These flowers are at risk of extinction.

Scientists would like to save the Rafflesia flower. They’d like to do more research on the flowers before they disappear. One scientist suggested that they work together with the indigenous people to learn about the plant.

If they study the flower, perhaps they could find a way to grow them. This could help save these giant flowers.