Dahlia, a fleshy parasitic herb belonging to the genus Dahlia in the family Dahliaceae.It parasitizes on the roots, stems or branches of plants and has no chlorophyll. The nutrient absorbing organs degenerate into mycelium and invade the host tissues.Leaves degenerated into scales or absent;Flowers are usually solitary, sparsely arranged into spikes, radially symmetrical, unisexual, monoecious or dioecious;The fruit is a berry;The seed is small, the seed coat is hard, and there is endosperm.[4]
The king flower has a spectacular and strange appearance. Its flower is the largest single flower known to the scientific community.[8]The king flower smells like a decayed corpse, and is recognized as the most smelly flower in the world.[9]It is distributed in tropical and subtropical regions from southeast to southwest.[4]
The king flower is more like a fungus, without chlorophyll, so it cannot carry out photosynthesis.In order to obtain food, they form filamentous tissue towards vines and absorb water and nutrition from it.Due to human activities, the tropical rainforest has been cut down in large numbers, and the life cycle of king flower is long but its flowering period is short. Now king flower is in an endangered state.[8]
The name of King Flower is taken from Sir Stamford Raffles in the British colony. In 1818, Sir Stamford Raffles and his friend Dr. James Arnold found the largest variety of King Flower in Manna.Species name“arnoldii”To commemorate the discovery of thisBotanyThe leader of the scientific expedition——britainNaturalistJoseph Arnold.[2]
Magnolia flower
The first botanist to discover the specimen of Magnolia was the French explorer Louis Auguste Deschamps (1765-1842).He is a member of a French scientific expedition.During his expedition to the Asia Pacific region, he spent three years in Java.In 1797, he collected the flower known as King Huo（Rafflesia horsfieldii）A specimen of.On his return voyage in 1798, his ship was sent from England whenAnglo French WarDuring this period, all his papers and notes were confiscated.In his lifetime, the delegation member did not see the dawn of this species being confirmed by the plant community, and it was not until 1954 that these materials were rediscovered in the British Museum of Natural History.[2]
In 1818, English botanist Joseph Arnold (1782-1818) and statesmanRafflesSir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (founder of modern Singapore from 1781 to 1826) collected specimens of another species - growing inSumatraOfArnold flower（Rafflesiaarnoldii）。Joseph Arnold died shortly after being brought back by Malayan servants.Sir Raffles has always collected this specimen. In order to fulfill Arnold's will, she sent the drawings of the shape and color of the plants that have been painted to Joseph Banks for material preservation.Later, the banker Robert Brown (1773-1858) transferred to the British Museum, and Franz Bauer (1758-1840), a plant artist who lived here, studied all the materials.[2]
William Jack (1795-1822) was Arnold'sSumatraThe successor of the island, who knew Deschamps, also noticed that the naming of the newly discovered genus names of these species would be different from the facts.He drafted a note to ensure the credibility of British botanists.[2]
Type and common name of king flowerArnold flower（Rafflesia arnoldii）It should have been named after Stanford Bentley Raffles, who was the first to describe the species, but it was finally named after Joseph Arnold, a British botanist.This was decided by the meeting of Linnaeus Society in London in June 1820.The report on the history of philosophy published in September of that year published the name.[2]
Species research
As for the species division of Dahlia (also known as "Dahlia"), Malaysian scholars claim that they may have discovered the genus Dahlia（Rafflesia）New species of plants.This genus is famous for its huge flowers and foul smell.Forestry officials in the eastern part of Terengganu Province, Malaysia, said that they had found a special genus of large flowers, whose petals looked like a known species, while the internal shape of the flowers looked like another species.[6]
Roslee Jamaludin, a forestry official, believes that this may be a new species, a variety or a variant.Everyone is excited about this discovery. Through the investigation of known plants of the genus Magnolia, no one has the same characteristics. Of course, we should observe its characteristics more carefully before we determine that it is a new species.[6]
Gamaruddin said that the specific location of the discovery of this large flower and grass could not be disclosed. When people found this large flower and grass, it was climbing on a tall tree.What's more peculiar is that it has no stems or leaves. It grows on a vine, and the whole flower is all of its body.Almost all the nutrients absorbed by the king flower from the vine plants supply the growth of the flower.[6]
It is reported that this genus is famous for its huge flowers and foul smell.Although large flowers and plants are rare, they have been found in several countries in Southeast Asia.Its flowers are huge, up to 1 meter long and weighing 10 kilograms. It is one of the largest flowers in the world.Charles Davis, a botanist from Harvard University, and his colleagues reported on the online edition of Science magazine that they used the latest DNA molecular marker technology to compare the big flower and a series of plants, and found that it should belong to Euphorbiaceae in the plant family tree.Davies said that the large flowers and plants living in the understory of the tropical rainforest in Southeast Asia are generally parasitic on the vines. The giant flowers are blood red and emit a rotten smell, which can be used to attract some flies to pollinate it.General botanists classify plants with similar characteristics into the same family, but the flowers of big flowers and plants are surprisingly large, which is rare among flowering plants. In addition, it is a parasitic plant, without typical structures of plants such as leaves and stems, and because of parasitism, it absorbs many genetic characteristics of vines, so scientists have never known which family it belongs to.New research suggests that the king flower should belong toEuphorbiaceae, which surprised them, because the flower of Euphorbiaceae is only a few hundred times as big as that of Euphorbia, Irish bell flowerpoinsettiaandCastor beanThey all belong to Euphorbiaceae. It is very puzzling that the flowers are so different in size but belong to the same category.Next, they will further study the big flowers, such as analyzing why their flowers are so big and how they evolved.[6]
The king flower is a fleshy parasiteherbRather than the real "cannibal flower"。Their main axis is very short, without leaves and underground stems, and the nutrient absorbing organs degenerate into mycelium, invadinghostThe whole flower is its whole.The nutrition absorbed from the host almost all supplies the growth of the flower. The flower diameter can reach 0.9144 meters, and the highest record can reach 1.4 meters.The base of the king flower is made by the hostXylemIt is developed and shaped like a jar.[3]
The king flower is more like a fungus, without chlorophyll, so it cannot carry out photosynthesis.In order to obtain food, they form filamentous tissue towards vines and absorb water and nutrition from it.[8]
Euphorbia, a fleshy parasitic herb of Euphorbia in the family Euphorbiaceae, is parasitic on the roots, stems or branches of plants, without chlorophyll. The nutrient absorbing organs degenerate into mycelium and invade the host tissues.Leaves degenerated into scales or absent.The flowers are usually solitary, sparsely arranged into spikes, radially symmetrical, unisexual, monoecious or dioecious, hermaphroditic, very huge (the largest flower in the world: large flowers, also calledArnold flower（Rafflesia arnoldiiR. Br.) is about 1 meter in diameter and weighs 7.5 kg. It is produced in Sumatra.),Perianth connate, lobes 4-10 or absent, sparsely separated;Male flower: most to 5 stamens, without filaments, 1-3 rows of stamens ring on the pistil column, or combine to form a tube in bisexual flowers, anthers are 2-celled, longitudinally divided or apically dehiscent, anther chambers sometimes converge, pollen is often sticky, single or tetrad;Female flower: the pistil is composed of 8-6-4 syncarps, the ovary is inferior, semi inferior or superior, and the 1-locular or placental process extends near the middle to form many irregular cavities;The ovules are very many, born on the placentation of lateral membrane, with 1-2 layers of integument;Style 1 or absent, stigma discoid, capitate, or multifid.The result isBerry；The seed is small, the seed coat is hard, and there is endosperm.[4]
The filamentous bud of the seed can gradually spread in the stem coat without harming the host until a year and a half later, the seed absorbs enough energy, expands in size, and breaks through the seed coat to sprout a bud point of about 6 mm.After several months of slow growth, the flower bud gradually grows from a ping-pong ball like volume toCabbageNormal size.After a month, the buds will slowly open, and it will take two days and two nights to fully bloom.The blossoming king flower is gorgeous and colorful. The whole corolla is bright red, with white spots on it. The corolla is 50-90cm. Five succulent petals are thick and tough. Each petal is about 5cm thick and 30cm wide. The total weight of the petals can reach as much as 10kg.There is a big round mouth honeypot in the center of the flower, which is quite large and can hold 5-7 kilograms of water.[2][4]
Plants often parasitize under the deciduous layer of tropical rainforestVitaceaeThe root of a vine or the lower climbing stem of a rock climbing vine.[2]
Reproductive methods
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reproduction
Although the flower of the king flower is large, its seeds are very small and sticky, which is almost difficult to identify with the naked eye.However, there is still considerable controversy in the scientific community about how the seeds of the king flower are spread.Some scholars believe that "the seeds are propagated by deer, wild boars, etc. after stepping into plants with damaged stem skins".
Protection status
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Endangered causes
Due to human activities, the tropical rainforest has been cut down in large numbers, and the life cycle of king flower is long but its flowering period is short. Now king flower is in an endangered state.[8]
As the propagation method of the flower is rarely known, it can only rely on natural transmission.In addition, the place where the king flower grows is regarded as fertile land and used for other purposes;Without good protection, the king flower gradually decreased.
Due to the impact of human activities such as timber harvesting and plantation development, large areas of local rainforest are rapidly decreasing.The lack of suitable environment has led to the decline of king flower year by year. In addition, the local legend says that king flower has medicinal value and the effect of tonifying the kidney and strengthening the yang. The extract made from flower bud extract is a good medicine for women during childbirth.The excessive use of local people has put the king flower in serious danger of extinction.
The Indonesian government is also organizing botanists to search for and protect this plant.In 1984, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) listed the flower as "the most threatened endangered plant in the world", and drew the attention of the world public to protect this world's largest and most peculiar flower.In 1997, the Sabah Wildlife Protection Act was enacted, and the king flower is a protected plant.In 2002, the relevant authorities found that 44-83% of the king flowers were outside the protection of the environment. Therefore, they sent personnel to search for and supervise the king flowers, and hoped that in the future, the king flowers and their growing environment would not be damaged.[7]
Habitat
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Magnolia flower
The king flower is distributed in tropical and subtropical regions from southeast to southwest,[4]It grows in tropical rainforests at an altitude of 500-700m.
Growth habit
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As there are no four seasons in the growing place of the king flower, it will sprout at any time of the year. The main growing season is from May to October every year.When it just emerged from the ground, it was only about the size of a table tennis ball. After several months of slow growth, the flower bud changed from the size of a table tennis ball to the size of a cabbage. Then five fleshy petals slowly opened, and it had been two days and two nights since the flowers fully bloomed.It is hard to believe that the giant flower that finally blooms can only last for 4-5 days, and during these 4-5 days, the flower will constantly release a peculiar odor, which is as smelly as feces. Butterflies and bees will not pay attention to it, and large animals will naturally avoid it, and let some odor expelling insects pollinate it.When the petals wither, they will turn into a pile of rotten black substances. Soon, the fruits will also mature, and many small seeds are hidden inside. They are ready to fall into the ground at any time to find the proper place for germination.[3]
Magnolia flower
The king flower blooms only one flower in his life,florescenceOnly 4 days.The flower bud has fragrance at the beginning of blooming, and then it will emit a pungent putrid smell, so it has the synonym of Corpse Flower.The stink of pollen attracts flies and other rotting animals to pollinate it. Squirrels are also interested in pollen and often lick from one anther to another.On the fourth day of the flowering period, the petals of the king flower gradually turn black and wither, turning into a thick black substance within a few weeks.The female flower that has been successfully pollinated will gradually form a half rotten fruit in the following July.The amazing flowers bear rotten fruits, which is really a wonder in the plant world.The fruit is globose, about 15 cm in diameter, with lignified and brown epidermis. The skin is full of milky white, lipid rich pulp, and thousands of reddish brown micro seeds.[2]
The king flower has a spectacular and strange appearance. Its flower is the largest single flower known to the scientific community.[8]The king flower smells like a decayed corpse, and is recognized as the most smelly flower in the world.[9]
