Page 230 - The Guide To Sarawak

228 NATURE
Gunung Gading National Park is the home for the largest flower on Earth - the Rafflesia.
The Rafflesia tuan-mudae is the
most accessible of Sarawak’s three Rafflesia species, as it regularly blooms at Gunung Gading National Park. This photograph clearly illustrates how it grows from the stem of its host vine (Tetrastigmata sp.).
guided walks to the site. Because of the Rafflesia’s
rarity and brief flowering period, timing and luck are essential to see a flower
in bloom. Fortunately the park wardens usually know when a bloom is imminent and run the world’s only Rafflesia telephone hotline. Visitors can check with the park HQ (T (082) 735 144) or the National Parks and Wildlife Booking Office
in Kuching (T (082) 248 088). Although flowers bloom throughout the year, November, December and January are the peak flow- ering months.
RAFFLESIA
Sarawak is home to three species of the world’s largest flower, the bizarre Rafflesia, named after
the founder of Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles.
The Rafflesia, which can grow up to one meter in diameter, is a parasitic plant which lives off and feeds from the Tetrastigma vine. Taking 18 months to gain a foothold in the vine, a further nine months to mature, and flowering for only 4 or 5 days before dying, the flower gives
off an unpleasant smell of rotting carrion which
attracts flies and other insects to pollinate it.
Because Rafflesia are
slow growing and little is understood about their
life cycle, their survival is a matter of concern. Sarawak’s main centre for Rafflesia conservation is Gunung Gading National Park (See page 236), 90 minutes from Kuching, where visitors can view flowering Rafflesia without damaging young buds and other plants. A plankwalk runs close to where Rafflesia are usually found, and if a plant is flowering deeper in the forest, park rangers lead