Date: 5/12/2013
The national Park at Gunung Gading near the town of Lundu is home to the world's largest flower, the rafflesia, which can grow up to one metre in diameter. The Rafflesia flowers that grow here may bloom unexpectedly any time of the year. The rafflesia has no specific season but the rainy season provides better blooming frequencies.
Entrance of the park
The board with the Rafflesia life cycle.
A particular vine must become infected by the parasite and a tiny bud appears on the vine. Over a year, the tiny bud swells to a ball and eventually bursts into a rafflesia flower.
Cemented track at first
In order to see Rafflesia, we had to leave the cemented path and jungle-trekked.
The trek quite slippery due to the rain yesterday.
A BUD, like the size of a cabbage or bigger
The rafflesia takes 9 months to bloom! and when it blooms, it starts decaying within 7 days.
Beginning to bloom ...
Rafflesia tuan-mudae is a species of Rafflesia found in the Gunung Gading National Park in Malaysia. These flowers are mostly found on the ground and are not aerial and can grow up to 60 centimeters in diameter. In very rare cases this flower can be as large as 95 centimeters in diameter.
Rafflesia Day 5
Rafflesia Day 3
Traces of decayed flowers
