Profesional photographer Andy Lim published a magnificent photo of hanging Rafflesia kerrii from Lojing in his portal, AndyLim Creative, here. He also published another photo from the same area, so I assume that there was a double bloom then.
The Rafflesia Kerrie Meijer gets its name from Sir Stamford Raffles.
One of the world's rarest and certainly it's largest flowers...
This species found at Khao Sok is on the endangered species list.
Please do not step too close to the flower it will destroy it because
there are "invisible roots" in the ground around the blossom !!! 
The Rafflesia is a parasitic plant with no roots or leaves.
It absorbs its nutrients with a kind of fungus from its host.
The Rafflesia develops out of a bud (top, left) and blooms for 3 - 4 days.
Afterwards it fades away like a decaying mushroom (it starts - bottom, right).
http://www.khaolakguide.de/rkmpic1.htm
Rafflesia (Rafflesia kerrii) flower and bud, Khao Sok National Park, Thailand
Location: Thailand, Muang Thai ; Indochina ; Southeast Asia ; Asia ;
Keywords: parasitic, parasite, parasitic plants, Tetrastigma, Vitaceae, Liana, Rafflesia kerrii ; Rafflesia ; Rafflesiaceae ; Malpighiales ; Rosidae ; Eudicots, Rosopsida ; Magnoliophyta, flowering plant ; Angiospermae, angiosperm ; Spermatophyta, spermatophyte ; Vascular plant, Tracheobionta ; Embryophyta ; Streptophyta ; Viridiplantae ; flora, Plantae, plant ; bloom, flower; flower bud, floral bud; flowering, blossoming, blossom, blooming; vegetation; parasite; monocarpic; rainforest; National Park;
Date: 14.08.2007
[M]: not applicable
Category: Nature
colour space: RGB
size in px: 3008 x 1996
Type: photo
Colour: colour
Format: horizontal
Original available as: tif file (or similar, uncompressed)
Scan available as: not applicable
Exclusive rights: Exclusive usage rights available on request
Licence: Simple Licence
Author:
Bernd Mehmen
Ringstrasse 20
42349 Wuppertal
Deutschland
b.mehmen@freenet.de
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| One of the world's rarest and certainly it's largest flowers... | ||||||||||||||||
| It was first collected in 1927-29 from four locations in Southern Thailand. This species found at Khao Sok is confined to the provinces of Surat Thani, Ranong and Chumphon, and on the endangered species list. | ||||||||||||||||
| Rafflesia is a parasitic plant with no leaves or roots of its own. It invades the liana vines and like a parasite, it absorbs all the vine's nutrients. Once a year small buds begin to develop beneath the root bark of the vine. As they mature, they swell, breaking through the bark, to the size of a football. The then burst open revealing the massive flower, which can be upto 80 cm in diameter and is ocra, yellow, chestnut and white in colour. Flies polinate Bua Phut, attracted by the sweet sickly smell. A female flower is pollinated only by a male flower and chances are reduced, not only by it's rarity, but also because it only flowers for 3-4 days, then it shrivels and dies. | ||||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
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| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Rafflesia kerrii Meijer |
Rafflesia kerrii is a member of the genus Rafflesia. It is found in the rainforest of southern Thailand and peninsular Malaysia, with the most famous population in the Khao Sok National Park. The local Thai names are Bua Phut (บัวผุด) and Bua Tum (บัวตูม).
The red flowers have a diameter of 50-90 cm and smell awfully of rotten meat to attract flies for pollination. The plant is a parasite to the wild grapes of the genus Tetrastigma (T. leucostaphylum, T. papillosum and T. quadrangulum). , but only the flowers are visible. Small buds appear along the trunk and roots of the host, which after 9 months open the giant flowers. After just one week the flower dies. The species seems to be flowering seasonally, as flowers are only reported during the dry season, from January to March, and more rarely till July.
The flower is endangered. Though already naturally rare, tourists trying to get close to the flower for photos easily trample the host plant or young buds. Also the locals collect both buds and flowers both as a delicacy as well as for its claimed medical powers. A concoction of cooked buds or flowers is used as a general tonic, to help for fever or backache or even as a sexual stimulant. However western medicine doesn't recognize any medical power of the flower.
The flower is the symbol flower of Surat Thani Province, which is the location of the Khao Sok NP.
DiscoveryThe species is named after the Irish botanist A.F.G. Kerr (1877-1942), the first botanist to collect plants extensively in Thailand. It was Kerr who first collected a specimen of this species in 1927, and further three till 1929. The specimen later used as the type specimen was collected on February 3 1929 at Khao Pho Ta Luang Kaeo near Ranong. It was scientifically collected several times afterwards, believed to be R. patma. In 1984 Willem Meijer described it as a separate species.[1]
Instantly after arriving in Khao Sok, we were informed this was the place of the "Big Flower", the buahpoot (บัวผุด) or Rafflesia kerrii - it's the ensign of the park.
When and where ever we went searching for information on this plant, the information did differ. That may be caused by the money one can make showing it to tourists. So apparently, every family keeps their "own", secret Rafflesia. So some said, they were all gone for this season (mid-January), some said, it would flower next week and others were able to show two open flowers. Some of it may be misunderstanding, as we found the English of the official guide a bit poor. Anyway,
the plant is a parasite that feeds on Tetrastigma lianas. All one will ever see of it, is the flower - no leaves, no stems, no roots, no nothing. Rafflesias are dioecious and more than that, they probably were scarce all the times. So the first mystery about them is how the females fertilize. Then, the seeds need to be distributed to the next host and then must infect it. All of that is not yet known and requires more investigation. To do that, one first will have to find a way that would not be likely to kill host and parasite right at the beginning. But by genom analysis, it was discovered, their closes relative is the spurge family - with their characteristic very small flowers...
Anyway, Rafflesia kerri is the only species of the genus in Thailand and produces flowers up to some 60 cm diameter. Another Rafflesia, Rafflesia arnoldii, produces the absolutely largest flower with 90 cm diameter and 11 kilogramms weight.
© 3 pictures Sue Reid
