The rafflesia is about 1 meter wide and weighs about 9 kilograms and it is the largest bloom in the world. It is also one of the rarest and most endangered. This flower is an great example of how fragile some areas of the rainforest are.  The rafflesia is a disembodied flower.  Strands of fungus-like tissue are its only body outside the flower.

The rafflesia has an odor that smells like rotting-meat.  This odor attracts flies and beetles into the plant, these bugs pollinate the plant.  The full-grown flower lasts only about a week before it dies.