世界上最大的鲜花在遥远的印度尼西亚丛林中盛开

While stumbling through some remote jungle in Indonesia's West Sumatra, conservationists claim to have spotted the world's largest flower bloom ever recorded, reports Phys.org.

Phys.org网站报道，在印尼西苏门答腊岛的一些偏远丛林中，环保人士声称发现了世界上有记录以来最大的花开了。

A Rafflesia tuan-mudae in Gunung Gading National Park. (Photo: Beavittw/Wiki Commons [CC 3.0 License])

The specimen is a giant Rafflesia tuan-mudae, a species that boasts mammoth but elusive blossoms that only bloom for about seven days at the end of the plant's lifespan. The record flower measured in at a diameter of 111 centimeters (3.6 feet), which makes it larger than the previous record holder by 4 centimeters, also a Rafflesia tuan-mudae.

这个标本是一种名为Rafflesia tuan-mudae的巨型Rafflesia tuan-mudae，这是一种以其巨大却难以捉摸的花朵而著称的物种，在该植物的生命周期结束时，它只会开花7天左右。据测量，这朵花的直径为111厘米(3.6英尺)，比之前的纪录保持者大了4厘米。

"This is the largest Rafflesia tuan-mudae that has ever been documented," said Ade Putra at the Agam Conservation Agency in Sumatra.

苏门答腊岛阿甘自然保护机构的艾德·普特拉说:“这是有记载的最大的卷毛蝠。”

The flower is characterized by its flesh-colored petals that are covered in white blister-like spots. That might not sound like the most flattering description, but it's apropos considering the smell this species is known to emit. Rafflesia tuan-mudae are a type of corpse flower, which smells like a rotting carcass. Don't let this fact lessen the glory of a find like this, however. What the flower lacks in fragrance, it makes up for in its fascinating biology.

这种花的特点是它肉色的花瓣上覆盖着白色的水泡状斑点。这听起来可能不是最令人愉快的描述，但考虑到这种物种已知的气味，这是恰当的。tuan-mudae是一种尸花，闻起来像腐烂的尸体。然而，不要让这个事实削弱了这样一个发现的荣耀。这种花缺乏香味，但它迷人的生物学特性弥补了这一点。

The pungent odor is meant to attract flies, which are this flower's principal pollinators. Interestingly, it's still a mystery as to what type of animal distributes the R. tuan-mudae seeds.

这种刺鼻的气味是为了吸引苍蝇，苍蝇是这种花的主要传粉者。有趣的是，究竟是哪种动物散布了金线莲种子，至今仍是个谜。

These plants are also parasitic, growing inside the root of a host plant for around nine months until suddenly revealing themselves to the world with their gigantic stinking blooms. They were named "Rafflesia" after a British colonialist, Sir Stamford Raffles, who was the first to officially identify one in the early 19th century. Hopefully for Raffles' sake, it was named after him to honor the discovery, not because of the good sir's scent.

这些植物也是寄生的，在寄主植物的根部生长了大约9个月，直到突然向世界展示它们巨大的恶臭的花朵。它们被命名为“Rafflesia”，以英国殖民者斯坦福德•莱佛士爵士的名字命名。希望莱佛士的缘故，它以他的名字命名是为了纪念这一发现，而不是因为这位好先生的气味。

Admittedly, it takes a special kind of conservationist to run toward one of these flowers rather than away, but in this case the prize was worth the stench. Whatever its smell, it's a special plant, and it's encouraging that such rare natural wonders can still find room to grow on our crowded planet.

无可否认，只有一种特殊的自然资源保护论者才会奔向这些花朵，而不是远离它们，但在这种情况下，这种恶臭是值得的。无论它的气味如何，它都是一种特殊的植物，令人鼓舞的是，这种罕见的自然奇观仍然能够在我们这个拥挤的星球上找到生长的空间。