This is a photograph of world's largest flower, the Rafflesia arnoldii. The parasitic plant was photographed shortly after blooming. According to the Jan. 12, 2007 issue of the journal Science the flowers of this species measure up to one meter in diameter and weigh up to 15 lbs. One big downside of the gigantic flower is that they look and smell like rotting flesh. This is not a downside at all to the carrion flies that pollinate them. Unlike humans the carrion flies find the flesh rotting feature very appealing. The study, by Dr. Charles C. Davis and colleagues of Harvard University Herbaria in Cambridge, Mass., was titled "Floral Gigantism in Rafflesiaceae. (PDF)" The BBC has more on the study which found that the huge flower belongs to a family of tiny plants.
