Mind-blowing rare plants and the world's largest flower | Indonesia Special | Gardening Australia

In Sumatra, we explore some threatened plants that are extraordinary. Subscribe 🔔 http://ab.co/GA-subscribe
Indonesia is comprised of thousands of individual islands and this geography has led to many unique and isolated habitats. These places have evolved their own endemic flora that occurs nowhere else on earth.

The mountains in south Sumatra are blanketed in thick rainforest. Here local plant conservationist Holidin shows us one of Indonesia’s most unusual plants, the corpse lily (Rafflesia arnoldi), which has the largest flower in the world.

It can grow to be more than 1 metre wide and weigh more than 6kg.

It takes the flower two years to mature from bud to full flower! Once mature, they only last a week or two.

The plant has no roots, stem or leaves, but grows as a parasite on just one host plant, a woody vine called Tetrastigma leucostaphylum.

It’s called the corpse lily because of the smell it emits, aimed at attracting flies to the pollination points in its central chamber.

Another rare and smelly plant in this park is the Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanium). Holidin and his family own this land but have created the Puspa Lanka Conservation Park here to preserve and protect this rainforest giant.

The mature plants can reach over 3m tall and weigh over 70kg.

The titan arum only flowers for two days every four years. It looks like one big flower but the huge spathe is actually made up of lots of individual flowers clustered together. Holidin says it smells like salted fish or a dead rat! Again, this ‘scent’ aims to attract pollinators.

In non-flowering years it grows to a tall tree-like structure that is actually just one large leaf with lots of leaves coming off it.

This rare, protected species is endemic to Sumatra and there are only about 1000 plants left in the wild. Land clearing for international industries like coffee, rubber and palm oil are reducing the amount of land available for these plants to grow.

Over the past few decades, Holidin has rescued dozens of arums threatened by clearing and relocated them to the conservation park.

Featured plants:
Corpse lily (Rafflesia arnoldi),
Tetrastigma leucostaphylum.
Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanium)

Filmed in Bengkulu, Sumatra
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