The real story
Rafflesia arnoldii is a parasite. For most of its life it is just threads of tissue living inside a Tetrastigma vine in the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo, taking all its water and food from its host. It only becomes visible as a bud, which swells for about nine months before opening into a bloom up to a metre wide.
It was named after Stamford Raffles and the naturalist Joseph Arnold, who were shown one in Bengkulu in 1818 by a local guide. The rotting-meat smell and the flesh-coloured petals fool carrion flies into visiting, and since flowers are either male or female, a fly has to visit both for pollination to work. Each bloom lasts under a week, which is why seeing one is so rare.
