Overview
The Mount Apo Giant Rafflesia (Rafflesia schadenbergiana), known locally by the indigenous Bagobo people as the Kolon Busaw (flower of the demon), is the second largest single flower species on planet Earth. Endemic to the volcanic mountain flanks of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, this gargantuan parasitic botanical titan was thought extinct for nearly a century before being dramatically rediscovered in 2007 by botanical researchers on Mount Kitanglad.
Biology and Physical Characteristics
Rafflesia schadenbergiana produces an immense, fleshy five-lobed blossom measuring nearly three feet across and weighing up to 24 pounds. Its thick, leathery perigone lobes are deep rust-orange to brick-red, heavily encrusted with thousands of dense, raised creamy-white warts that form unique labyrinthine patterns. Possessing no true roots, stems, or leaves, the plant lives unseen inside the tissues of wild Tetrastigma liana vines, manifesting only when it bursts through the vine’s bark to swell into a massive cabbage-sized bud that opens into a monumental bloom.
Behavior and Ecology
Opening for only five to seven days before decomposing into a black gelatinous puddle, the blossom produces a potent, foul odor resembling rotting animal carcasses, combined with thermogenic heat produced by metabolic oxidation within its central diaphragm. This vile olfactory and thermal mimicry lures swarms of female carrion blowflies (Calliphoridae) deep into its central cup. As the flies explore the intricate column spikes seeking a place to lay eggs, they brush against specialized pollen masses, carrying genetic material to neighboring blooming specimens across the mountain.
Conservation and Human Impact
Assessed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, Rafflesia schadenbergiana survives in only a handful of fragmented forest pockets on Mindanao. It faces acute threats from illegal agricultural clearing, banana plantation expansion, commercial timber harvesting, and accidental trampling by unregulated mountaineering tourism on Mount Apo. Indigenous Bagobo and Talaandig communities now collaborate with protected area management to establish strict seasonal ecotourism trails that protect wild Tetrastigma host vines.
Interesting Factoid
Thought completely extinct for nearly 100 years, this colossal flower measures nearly three feet wide and weighs up to 24 pounds—it has no leaves, stems, or roots, and smells like rotting meat to fool flies into pollinating it!
Last updated: October 2026