BIOLOGIST DISCOVERS RARE FLOWER BLOOMING IN INDONESIAN RAINFOREST
A fantasy came true at that precise moment. Dr Chris Thorogood and his team discovered Rafflesia hasseltii, a plant that has been "seen by more tigers than people," after a strenuous hike through an Indonesian island's Sumatran rainforest, which is patrolled by tigers. Even more fortunately for them, the uncommon plant known as the "Tiger-faced Mushroom" was in the middle of blooming, which only lasts for a few days and can take up to nine months to develop.
The researchers, who travelled day and night to locate Rafflesia hasseltii, were understandably tearful in a video that Thorogood, an associate professor of biology at Oxford University, shared. In the video, Septian "Deki" Andrikithat, an Indonesian flower hunter and team member, is shown on his knees, crying with happiness over this incredible discovery. We initially just see the response, not the flower. Thorogood then cuts to the massive blossom, which has a core that resembles the exterior of a dragon fruit and big, speckled petals.
Andrikithat said, "This is quite wonderful," adding that he had spent 13 years searching for the elusive bloom. Thorogood continued, "I'm the luckiest guy alive." The group managed to find time to sit and silently observe the flower unfolding among the commotion. Thorogood, who was astonished by their good fortune, described it as an unearthly experience. He told The New York Post, "The odds of that are—well, I don't even know what. It's like it opened expressly for us."
Rafflesia is a genus of parasitic plants, which means that it lives inside a host plant—a tropical vine in the case of Rafflesia hasseltii. It blooms exclusively when it is above ground. Its blossom is referred to as a "corpse flower" because it has an unpleasant smell akin to decaying meat.