An endangered stinky lotus flower called Giant Padma, known as the largest flower in the world, has bloomed for the first time outside its natural habitat at an Indonesian botanical garden after centuries of conservation efforts, according to the National Research and Innovation Agency.
The flower with a diameter of 60 centimeters blossomed on Monday at the Bogor Botanical Gardens in the suburbs of Jakarta following efforts to conserve the species outside its natural habitat since its discovery in 1818. The flower's diameter can reach up to 150 centimeters.
The opening of one of several buds of Rafflesia arnoldii, the scientific name for the so-called corpse flower, known for its rotten stench when it blooms, capped 16 years of cultivating efforts by Sofi Mursidawati, a senior researcher at the facility.
The species was discovered in the forests of Bengkulu Province on Sumatra Island by a guide of British professor Joseph Arnold who joined an expedition of statesman and adventurer Stamford Raffles. The plant's name combines those of Raffles and Arnold.
