Introduction The Rafflesia Family Rafflesia is a genus of parasitic flowering plants.

It contains approximately 28 species (including four incompletely characterized species as recognized by Willem Meijerin 1997), all found in Southeast Asia, mostly in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. The plant has no stems, leaves or true roots. It is a holoparasite of vines in the genus Tetrastigma (Vitaceae), spreading its absorptive organ, the haustorium, inside the tissue of the vine. The only part of the plant that can be seen outside the host vine is the five-petaled flower. The flowers look and smell like rotting flesh, hence its local names which translate to "corpse flower" or "meat flower". The foul smell attracts insects such as flies, which transport pollen from male to female flowers. Most species have separate male and female flowers, but a few have hermaphroditic flowers. Little is known about seed dispersal. However, tree shrews and other forest mammals eat the fruits and disperse the seeds. Rafflesia is the official state flower of Indonesia, the Sabah state in Malaysia, and of the Surat Thani Province, Thailand. Species of Rafflesia
Species

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Rafflesia arnoldii Rafflesia aurantia Rafflesia azlanii Rafflesia baletei Rafflesia bengkuluensis Rafflesia cantleyi Rafflesia gadutensis Rafflesia hasseltii Rafflesia keithii Rafflesia kerrii Rafflesia leonardi Rafflesia lobata

13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.

Rafflesia manillana Rafflesia micropylora Rafflesia mira Rafflesia patma Rafflesia philippensis Rafflesia pricei Rafflesia rochussenii Rafflesia schadenbergiana Rafflesia speciosa Rafflesia tengku-adlinii Rafflesia tuan-mudae Rafflesia verrucosa

Unverified species

1. 2. 3. 4.

Rafflesia borneensis Rafflesia ciliata Rafflesia titan Rafflesia witkampii

In Malaysia, the species include Rafflesia arnoldii, Rafflesia cantleyi, Rafflesia hasseltii, Rafflesia keithii, Rafflesia kerrii, Rafflesia pricei, and Rafflesia tengkuadlinii. Rafflesia arnoldii boast the world's largest single bloom. Some endemic Malaysian species, such as Rafflesia keithii, begin blooming at night and start to decompose only two to three days later. The time from bud coming out to flowering is six to nine months. Male and female flowers must be open simultaneously for pollination to occur, hence successful pollination and fruit production are quite rare. In addition to habitat loss, these reproductive limitations are contributing factors to why many species are endangered. Rafflesia keithii found along the eastern slopes of Mount Kinabalu in the Lohan Valley of Sabah. Rafflesia tuan-mudae is endemic to only Gunung Gading National Park in Sarawak. Recently in Malaysia, a group of researcher from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) had discover the ninth new species of Rafflesia in Malaysia and 32nd in the world and it was named Rafflesia sharifah-hapsahiae after UKM Vice-Chancellor Prof Tan Sri Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hassan Shahabudin. This type of Rafflesia is said to be found in the forest reserve of Gunung Benom in Pahang.

Intergeneric Relationships within Rafflesiaceae Rafflesiaceae are family of parasitic plant. The plants are endoparasites of vines in the genus Tetrastigma (Vitaceae) and lack stems, leaves, roots, and any photosynthetic tissue. Only the flowers emerge from the roots or lower stems of the host plants. Past taxonomic works have diverse as to the classification of Rafflesiaceae. Most traditional classifications that were based entirely on morphological features considered Rafflesiaceae sensu lato (in the broad sense) to include nine genus, but the heterogeneity among these genus caused early workers. The original Rafflesiaceae sensu lato is currently split into four families:

Rafflesiaceae (sensu stricto): Rafflesia, Rhizanthes, Sapria Mitrastemonaceae: Mitrastema Cytinaceae: Bdallophyton, Cytinus Apodanthaceae: Apodanthes, Berlinianche, Pilostyles

These four families can be easily distinguished by floral and inflorescence features:

Rafflesiaceae: inferior ovary, large flowers occurring singly Mitrastemonaceae: superior ovary, flowers occurring singly Cytinaceae: inferior ovary, flowers in inflorescences Apodanthaceae: inferior ovary, small flowers occurring singly (but arising in clusters from host bark )

Morphology Of Rafflesia Floral Morphology

Bud Morphology

Life Cycle and Flower-Bud Development

The Rafflesia's life cycle begins when the parasitic growths on the plant's vine root form small buds that resemble cabbage. Unlike conventional plants, Rafflesia lacks stems, leaves and roots. Its presence can be sensed, only when the buds appear on the host vine and develop to flowers. The plant is an endoparasite that grows inside the stems of the host - Tetrastigma vines. The root-like parts (haustoria) of Rafflesia grows inside the tissue of the vine and extract nutrients from the host plant to grow. Once the plant matures, it produces buds that are found as small bumps on the vine stems. The buds develop on the vines and take around nine to twelve months to grow. The buds of Rafflesia look like cabbages with brownish scales (covering) and orangereddish petals inside. The buds usually open during rainy nights. It takes around 24 to 48 hours for a Rafflesia bud to open fully. The flowers last for only five to seven days. After that, they wither and rot to a black slimy mass. But if the flowers are fertilized, they will produce fruits. The fleshy fruit of Rafflesia is round in shape and has a diameter of about 12 to 15 cm. The fruit contains numerous seeds that are said to be dispersed by squirrels and shrews that feed on it. The plant, which is an endoparasite is found to cause no damage to its host, even though it draws food from the latter. Speculation is that Rafflesia seedlings can enter the host plant, only through the damaged roots or stems.

Bud Growth

Rafflesia lacks leaves, stems and chlorophyll, and is incapable of photosynthesis. Instead, the buds grow by living off of the plant's vine, draining nutrients and water from it. Flower

In about nine months, the bud bursts, revealing a huge, five-petal flower. The reddishbrown flowers give off a pungent odour similar to rotting flesh, which attracts insects for

pollination. Rafflesia plants are unisexual and most often produce either male or female flowers at a single site. To succeed at pollinating the plant, insects must visit both male and female flowers, which are usually not in close immediacy to one another. Fruit

The fruit has smooth tissue that contains numerous tiny seeds. Once fruit and flower have both reached maturity, which takes five to seven days, this marks the end of the plant's life cycle. Seed

The smell of the fruit's dead flesh attracts indigenous animals. The animals distribute the seeds, continuing the plant's life cycle.