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Rafflesia Still the World's Largest Flower

A few knowledgeable members wrote to point out that the Rafflesia is still the largest flower in the world.as the Titan Arum, although measuring 1.9 metres in the Atlanta Botanical Garden, is merely an upstart that tries to do dominate by sheer force of numbers � it is an inflorescence consisting of many small flowers. However some botanists point out that the showy "bloom" of this aroid* is the biggest in the world. According to Alfred Byrd Graf, ("Exotica Series 3" 10th edition 1980, Roehrs Company Inc., E. Rutherford, N.J. USA) the Titan Arum, (Amorphophallus titanum) from Sumatra is "a giant tuberous plant and a great curiosity with flowers on a 6-foot yellow spadix surrounded by the crisped 3-foot spathe, purple inside, green outside and with disagreeable odour; 15 feet leaves on a 10-foot leaf stalk".

*The Aroid family or Araceae are largely tropical herbs, with fleshy or woody stems, others root climbers; varied and variable leaf forms; characterised by inflorescence composed of densely flowered spadix, and subtended by a spathe or bract often coloured and showy, eg Anthuriums.


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Created on 19th Dec 1998. Last modified on