Rafflesia

In the folklore of certain Indonesian tribes, the blooming of the Rafflesia is said to be a rare gift from the forest spirits. It is nicknamed "the corpse flower" due to its smell of decomposing meat, which can spread over great distances.

It is the largest flower on Earth! The Rafflesia can reach one meter in diameter and weigh up to 10 kg. But what is truly fascinating about this flower is that it is incredibly rare. An Indonesian botanist and a researcher at the University of Oxford broke down in tears upon witnessing a Rafflesia bloom after thirteen years of tracking it down in the jungles of Sumatra. This is due to several factors: it spends approximately nine months developing, only to bloom for 5 to 7 days before decomposing. Its reproduction is a real challenge: its flowers being unisexual, two male and female specimens must bloom simultaneously in close proximity to one another. It can only be pollinated by a very specific type of insect: Necrophagous flies (the Rafflesia essentially mimics a dead animal, hence the smell).

And to top it all off, massive deforestation across Southeast Asia is destroying its natural habitat a little more each day, making its survival increasingly uncertain...

PS: It's incredibly cool, go check out pictures of the different types online!