Rafflesia is the official state flower of Indonesia, where it is known as puspa langka (rare flower) or padma paksasa (giant flower), of Sabah state in Malaysia, and of Surat Thani Province in Thailand. In Thailand, Rafflesia can be observed in Khao Sok National Park where the flowers are numbered and monitored by the park rangers.
Rafflesia are also remarkable for showing a large horizontal transfer of genes from their host plants. This is well known among bacteria, but not higher organisms.
🖊 Malaysian/Indonesian species
With the second-largest rain forest in the world and a high level of biodiversity, Indonesia is a home for hundreds of flora including Rafflesia. Most of them can be found easily in Sumatra and Borneo.
R