Why does rafflesia stink

This plant is no lightweight either—at its peak, it can weigh as much as fifteen pounds approximately seven kilograms. But you would think twice before taking this plant home. The flower smells a lot like rotting meat. People may not like to smell the plant, but it does attract insects that help to pollinate the plant.

According to New Scientist , it doesn't have leaves, stems, or roots and hides "away inside their host plant. Tetrastigma provides the food and water for Rafflesia to grow and thrive during it's short week of life. But what makes Rafflesia flowers smell so bad? Turns out there's a biological function for the repulsive stench: it attracts flies and other insects which pollinate the plant so it can continue the reproductive process.

Chemicals like dimethyl disulfide, which contain sulfur, is what creates the rotten smell. This stinky strategy isn't the only one. There's the Eastern Skunk Cabbage, which, true to its name, smells like a dead skunk, and Hydnora africana , which smells like feces.

Then there's the Titan arum , also known as the corpse flower, that is native to Indonesia and even rarer, blooming every years for a measly hours. At that point a bud forms outside the host plant and slowly blooms over the course of up to a year. After about a week, the flower will rot and die, leaving the plant invisible inside its host once more.

Trending Latest Video Free. Anxious botanists have been attempting to cultivate the plant in an attempt to conserve it. While a handful of transplanted Tetrastigma have supported Rafflesia in captivity, the plants have yet to be successfully grown from seed. The most successful method so far has been the grafting of infected sections of the vine onto healthy plants. Bogor Botanical Gardens in Jakarta coaxed an R. Molina aims to duplicate the technique at the U. Botanic Garden. She has schlepped dozens of cuttings from the Philippines in an effort to establish a reservoir of these bizarre plants.

So far, no corpse flowers. But hope springs eternal and with any luck, Washington, D. Register or Log In. The Magazine Shop. Login Register Stay Curious Subscribe. Planet Earth. Rafflesia lobata, native to the Philippines.

Credit: Pieter Pelser and Julie Barcelona. Newsletter Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news. Sign Up. Jeanmaire Molina with a Rafflesia speciosa blossom. Credit: Jeanmaire Molina. Rafflesia leonardi flower and buds, Philippines. Rafflesia speciosa, native to the Philippines.

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