''Rafflesia kerrii'' is a member of the genus ''
Rafflesia
''Rafflesia'' () is a genus of parasitic flowering plants in the family Rafflesiaceae. The species have enormous flowers, the buds rising from the ground or directly from the lower stems of their host plants; one species has the largest flowers i ...
''. It is found in the rainforest of
southern Thailand
Southern Thailand, Southern Siam or Tambralinga is a southernmost cultural region of Thailand, separated from Central Thailand region by the Kra Isthmus.
Geography
Southern Thailand is on the Malay Peninsula, with an area of around , bounde ...
and peninsular
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, with notable populations in
Khao Sok National Park
Khao Sok National Park ( th, เขาสก, ) is in Surat Thani Province, Thailand. Its area is 461,712 rai ~ , and it includes the Cheow Lan Lake contained by the Ratchaprapha Dam. The park is the largest area of virgin forest in southern ...
and
Khlong Phanom National Park
Khlong Phanom ( th, คลองพนม) is a national park in southern Thailand, protecting 256,500 rai ~ of forests within the Phuket mountain range. It was declared a national park on November 17, 2000.
The park is located in the southwest ...
. Local
Thai names are บัวผุด (''bua phut''), ย่านไก่ต้ม (''yan kai tom'') and บัวตูม (''bua tum'').
![Rafflesia kerrii meijer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Rafflesia_kerrii_meijer.jpg)
The red flowers typically have a diameter of and smell awfully of rotten meat to attract flies for pollination. This species has some claim to being the world's largest flower, for although the average size of ''R. arnoldii'' is greater than the average ''R. kerrii'', there have been two recent specimens of R. kerrii of exceptional size: One specimen found in the Lojing Highlands of peninsular Malaysia on April 7, 2004 by Prof. Dr. Kamarudin Mat-Salleh, and Mat Ros measured in width, while another found in 2007 in Kelantan State, peninsular Malaysia by Dr. Gan Canglin measured . The photograph of Dr. Gan with the flower clearly shows that the
corolla is in width; the largest corolla ever reported anywhere. The plant is a parasite to the wild grapes of the genus ''
Tetrastigma
''Tetrastigma'' is a genus of plants in the grape family, Vitaceae. The plants are lianas that climb with tendrils and have palmately compound leaves. Plants are dioecious, with separate male and female plants; female flowers are characterized ...
'' (
''T. leucostaphylum'',
''T. papillosum'' and
''T. quadrangulum''), but only the flowers are visible. The remainder of the plant is a network of fibers penetrating all of the tissues of the Tetrastigma, which fibers, although Angiosperm in nature, closely resemble a fungal mycelium. Small buds appear along the
lianas and roots of the host, which after nine months open as giant flowers. After just one week the flower wilts. The species seems to be flowering seasonally, as flowers are only reported during the dry season, from January to March, and more rarely till July.
The flower is endangered. Though already naturally rare, tourists trying to get close to the flower for photos easily trample the host plant or young buds. Also the locals collect both buds and flowers both as a delicacy as well as for its claimed medical powers. A concoction of cooked buds or flowers is used as a general tonic, to help for fever or backache or even as a sexual stimulant. However, there is a lack of evidence regarding the efficacy of the flower for treating any medical condition.
The flower is the symbol flower of
Surat Thani Province, which is the location of the Khao Sok NP.
Discovery
The species is named after the Irish botanist,
Arthur Francis George Kerr
Arthur Francis George Kerr (1877–1942) was an Irish medical doctor. He is known particularly now for his botanical work, which was important for the study of the flora of Thailand.
He encouraged other botanists to collect plant specimens in Tha ...
, who
collected plants extensively in Thailand. It was Kerr who first collected a specimen of this species in 1927, and further three by 1929. The specimen later used as the
type specimen
In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes th ...
was collected on February 3, 1929 at Khao Pho Ta Luang Kaeo near
Ranong
Ranong ( th, ระนองPronunciation) is a town ('' thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of the Ranong Province and the Mueang Ranong District. The town covers completely the area of the '' tambon'' Khao Niwet (เขานิ ...
. It was scientifically collected several times afterwards, believed to be ''
R. patma''. In 1984
Willem Meijer
Willem Meijer (1923 – 22 October 2003) was a Dutch botanist and plant collector.
Background and education
Meijer was born in 1923 in The Hague, Netherlands. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam in 1951. Meijer travelled to J ...
described it as a separate species.
rafflesia-in-bloom blog
/ref>
References
*National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, ''National Park Bulletin'' June–July 200
(1.8 MB PDF)
* Jamili Nais. Rafflesia of the World. . pp. 147–153
External links
Rafflesia kerrii in Khao Sok National Park
Looking for Rafflesia
{{Taxonbar, from=Q908442
kerrii
Flora of Peninsular Malaysia
Flora of Thailand
Vulnerable plants