Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. GrrlScientist writes about evolution, ecology, behavior and health. All 42 known species of the parasitic plant genus Rafflesia, ...

If you thought all plants survive by photosynthesis, you'd be dead wrong, and you need look no further than the world's largest flower species. Found in the rainforests of Southeast Asia, Rafflesia ...

New study finds that most Rafflesia species, which produce the world’s largest flowers, face extinction. Lack of protection at local, national, and international levels means that remaining ...

See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. A "monstrous" flower mimics the smell of a rotting corpse in order to ...

Rafflesia arnoldii is believed to smell like a decaying corpse or rotting flesh, a scent that helps attract insects to pollinate it. However, because of its rarity and unique location in dense forests ...

One of the world’s freakiest floral phenomena starts from a seed the size of sawdust beneath the bark of a woody vine. After months or years (no one really knows), a parasitic bud may emerge, a golf ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The plant with the world's largest flower -- typically a full meter across, with a bud the size of a basketball -- evolved from a family of plants whose blossoms are nearly all ...

The stench of decay announces death—but Rafflesia plants turn it on like a neon sign. Forty-two parasitic species exude the smell of rot to lure insects, thriving under the guise of death. From a ...

An international group of scientists, including botanists at the University of Oxford's Botanic Garden, has issued an urgent call for coordinated action to save the iconic genus Rafflesia, which ...