The mask is to prevent vomiting on this flower, it is a Rafflesia arnoldii, the largest flower that exists. It needs flies for pollination, which itattracts with a strong smell similar to a decomposing corpse.
Fascinating that the only aboveground part of the plant is its flower! Hard to imagine how it is parasitizing some vines underground and then all of a sudden produces this monster of a flower!
Although it is the largest flower, it isn’t the largest inflorescence haha. But apparently both this plant and the one with the largest inflorescence (Amorphophallus titanum) both smell like something rotting and are so huge. I mean, shouldn’t it be easier to attract flies?
For the flower it is irrelevant if it smells good or bad, it is a simple question of producing the necessary moleculas for one thing or another to attract the needed insects.
The mask is to prevent vomiting on this flower, it is a Rafflesia arnoldii, the largest flower that exists. It needs flies for pollination, which itattracts with a strong smell similar to a decomposing corpse.
https://wl.vern.cc/wiki/Rafflesia_arnoldii?lang=en
Fascinating that the only aboveground part of the plant is its flower! Hard to imagine how it is parasitizing some vines underground and then all of a sudden produces this monster of a flower!
Although it is the largest flower, it isn’t the largest inflorescence haha. But apparently both this plant and the one with the largest inflorescence (Amorphophallus titanum) both smell like something rotting and are so huge. I mean, shouldn’t it be easier to attract flies?
For the flower it is irrelevant if it smells good or bad, it is a simple question of producing the necessary moleculas for one thing or another to attract the needed insects.