Origin
South America
Light
Full sun
Watering
Weekly
Care
Easy
Flowering
Flowering
Outdoor
Rafflésie d'Arnold
The largest flower on earth: a metre across, ten kilos, a stench of carrion — and not one leaf.
Care Profile
A guide to ensuring your botanical companion thrives.
Origin
Sumatra
Light
Dappled shade
Watering
Weekly
Maintenance
Expert
A flower without a plant
It has no stem, root or leaf: it lives as threads inside a Tetrastigma vine, emerging only to bloom in the forests of Sumatra and Borneo.
The bud swells for nine months to the size of a cabbage, then opens for barely five days, releasing the smell of rotting meat to draw flies, before blackening.
"Nine months of patience for five days of scandal."
01
Styling Tip 01
Impossible to cultivate
No pot culture has ever succeeded for long: it survives only inside its host vine, in primary forest.
02
Styling Tip 02
A page to read, not to plant
It is watched in a handful of reserves in Sumatra and Sabah, where guides flag the buds about to open.
03
Styling Tip 03
Protect the vine, protect the flower
Its survival depends entirely on the forest carrying the Tetrastigma: fell the vine and the flower is gone.
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Origin
South America
Light
Full sun
Watering
Rarely
Care
Easy
Flowering
Flowering