Rafflesia

Rafflesia arnoldi

The genus Rafflesia honors the founder of the British colony of Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles. The botantist who accompanied him in his explorations was Dr. Joseph Arnold, memorialized in the specific name of the form that bears the world's largest flower. There are 16 known species of Rafflesia, the 16th having been discovered as recently as 1988. They are found on the Malaysian peninsula, Borneo, and Sumatra.

For pictures and more information on the plant and on Sir Raffles follow some of the links listed below. Remember that these are on remote sites not linked back to the biogeography class's pages.

Basic information from ARKive, a project of The Wildscreen Trust that is putting photographs of species listed in IUCN's Red Data Book on-line.
Sir Stamford Raffles. An on-line exhibition of the National Heritage Board of Singapore about Sir Stamford Raffles. Includes his discovery of Rafflesia.
Full screen photo of Rafflesia arnoldi from Portland State University

Created October 29, 1997 by Susan Woodward