Rafflesia, the world's largest flower, indigenous to tropical rainforest like those in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. This rafflesia of Cameron Highland, can be found deep on the untouched lowland forest area around the cold climate of Cameron Highlands. These rare germs of Cameron Highlands, rafflesias, are free to look at, but requires an effort of 45 minutes 4WD drive and one and a half or two hours straight of jungle trekking by foot through the designated route already known by locals/ aborigins for years. Well, far from fiction, reality is rafflesia flower (including in Cameron Highlands itself) is very hard to come across. Not just because rafflesia usually only appear in the remote jungle, but for the fact that rafflesia takes around one to and one and a half years to bloom, and when it does, rafflesia bloom normally lasts for a mere of 5 - 7 days. The first petals usually opens very quickly because of the long remaining gases inside the bulb, then the other four petals each individually open one at a time over the period of 3-4 hours each. Since rafflesia is so rare, trekking for two hours down the lowland Cameron Highlands doesn't guarantee any rafflesia spotting, but when you do found one or two or three amazing rafflesia arnoldis along the route, the weary obviously paid off.
Photos of rafflesia flower that can be found on deep lowland jungle of Cameron Highland, credit to James Ng Kun Tek from JE Tunnel.
Cyle O'Donnell's video trekking out to the forest of Cameron Highlands in search of the world's largest flower, rafflesia arnoldis.
Photos of rafflesia flower that can be found on deep lowland jungle of Cameron Highland, credit to James Ng Kun Tek from JE Tunnel.
Cyle O'Donnell's video trekking out to the forest of Cameron Highlands in search of the world's largest flower, rafflesia arnoldis.