Why does the rafflesia flower stink

Its flowers can weigh 15 pounds 7 kg. They are a blotchy blood red. They smell like decaying flesh. And they even can emit heat, perhaps mimicking a newly killed animal in order to entice the carrion flies that pollinate it. They are a totally fetid, stinking, foul kind of flower. It can be totally repulsive to so many of us. There are various species of rafflesia growing on the floor of rain forests in parts of Southeast Asia, with Borneo the center of its diversity, Davis said.

What do they look and smell like? Look further: Everyday Mysteries. Sign up here for news and blog updates. Previous Post. Ed Tech Lens. Rafflesia plants are parasitic. They have no leaves, stem or roots, and hide away inside their host plants — in this case a vine — until they are ready to reproduce.

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.