''Rafflesia meijeri'' is a species of parasitic flowering plant in the genus ''Rafflesia''. It was first described by Harry Wiriadinata and Rismita Sari in 2010. It is known from a single location, Sicikeh-Cikeh, a nature park in

North Sumatra North Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Utara) is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java and ...

Description

''Rafflesia meijeri'' was first described by Harry Wiriadinata and Rismita Sari in 2010. They published their discovery in the journal ''Reinwardtia'' entitled "A new species of ''Rafflesia'' (Rafflesiaceae) from North Sumatra". Only male plants were obtained in the type locality at the time of its discovery. The male flower has a width of and a height of . The mature bud has a diameter between . The petals, known as the perigone lobes, are coarse and brick colored. The lobes are in size. The perigone tube, a fused section of the petals resembling a bowl, has a height of and a width of . The ramenta, interior scales, are filiform, or hair-like, rather than the swollen ramenta of ''Rafflesia rochussenii''. This species is similar to the related ''

Rafflesia rochussenii ''Rafflesia rochussenii'' is a parasitic plant species of the genus '' Rafflesia''. It is endemic to the Indonesian island of Java. References External links Parasitic Plant Connection: ''Rafflesia rochussenii'' page rochussenii Par ...

'' in its morphology. Both flowers lack the processes, tentacle-like stamens, on the disc that many other flowers in the same genus have. ''R. rochussenii'' is known from West Java, while ''R. meijeri'' is known from

. The two species differ not only because of their geographic separation, but additionally the two species display some differing morphological characteristics. ''R. meijeri'' differs by its patterning of the warts on the perigone lobe, or the "petals" of the flower. The warts of ''R. meijeri'' are irregular in patterning rather than regular. It additionally differs the morphology of the ramenta, scales on the interior of the flower. The tip of the ramenta for ''R. rochussenii'' is swollen, compared to the filiform ramenta of ''R. meijeri''. Further genetic research is needed to determine if ''R. meijeri'' is indeed a separate species, as members of the genus show

plasticity Plasticity may refer to: Science * Plasticity (physics), in engineering and physics, the propensity of a solid material to undergo permanent deformation under load * Neuroplasticity, in neuroscience, how entire brain structures, and the brain it ...

in their morphologies.

Distribution

''Rafflesia meijeri'' is known from a single location, Sicikeh-Cikeh, a nature park near Laehole Village,

. Another source lists it being found west of Lake Toba in Parbuluan.

Habitat

''Rafflesia meijeri'' is found in hilly

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

with a terrain of moderately steep slopes. The plant is found at an elevation of . It was also found in disturbed primary forest alongside members of the plant families

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

Fagaceae The Fagaceae are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with about 927 species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species occur as evergre ...

Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant family that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016 ). They are dicotyledons, and occur ma ...

, Rubiaceae, Zingiberaceae, among others.

Etymology

''Rafflesia meijeri'' is named after

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 ...

, a researcher who studied ''Rafflesia'' plants. Meijer died in 2003 and the name of ''R. meijeri'' honours his contributions to the plant's study and conservation.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18119870 meijeri Flora of Indonesia Flora of Sumatra Endemic flora of Indonesia Plants described in 2010 Parasitic plants