The World’s Largest—and Stinkiest—Flower Is in Danger of Extinction

This story originally appeared in The Guardian and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Parasitic, elusive, and emitting an overwhelming odor of putrefying flesh, Rafflesia—often called the corpse flower—has intrigued botanists for centuries. Now, scientists are warning that it is at risk of extinction and calling for action to save it.

The blooms of the Rafflesia have become famous for their odor of decaying meat, produced to attract flesh-eating flies. But the genus—which includes the largest flowers in the world, at more than a meter across—is at risk due to the destruction of forest habitats in Southeast Asia. There are 42 species of Rafflesia, and researchers warn that all of

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