Interesting Facts About the Rafflesia in Perak

The Pakma flower, better known by its English name, the Rafflesia, is a type of flowering plant with an exceptionally large bloom. For general knowledge, the Pakma or Rafflesia flower is the national flower of Indonesia.

This is because the first recorded discovery of the Pakma flower was by Sir Stamford Raffles and Dr. Joseph Arnold in 1816 in the city of Bengkulu (Bencoolen), Sumatra. The Rafflesia or Pakma flower is a strange plant in terms of its unique shape, which is unlike other flowers we see every day. What distinguishes the Pakma flower from other flowers is that when it blooms, it emits a very foul odor and the plant is quite heavy. Unlike other plants, the Rafflesia does not have leaves to process carbon dioxide and sunlight to produce sugar and oxygen. The Rafflesia also lacks roots to absorb water and minerals from the soil to process into protein. All it has are tissues that look like long, fine tubes that penetrate the host plant.

This shows that the Rafflesia is a type of parasite that does not need to produce its own nutrients. It only needs to absorb those nutrients from its host, which are other plants. In the state of Perak Darul Ridzuan, several species of Rafflesia have been discovered, which are typically only found in Pahang and East Malaysia. In Royal Belum specifically, there are three out of the 20 largest flower species in the world. Usually, this flower has five petals, but the one discovered in Royal Belum has the most petals in the world, with 10 petals, indirectly adding to the uniqueness of Perak in the eyes of the world.

A female hybrid species of the flora was discovered with 10 petals and a diameter of 46 centimeters at Sungai Gadong, Royal Belum State Park, on June 23, 2012. The Pakma flower with 10 petals was discovered by an employee of the Perak State Parks Corporation while carrying out routine daily work supervising the area. The discovery of the flower, which has been identified as the result of an evolution between the Rafflesia Azlanii and Rafflesia Cantleyi species, has also been confirmed as the first of its kind in the world.

One of the three species of Pakma flower found in Perak is named Rafflesia Azlanii. It is named after the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah. If you notice, the Rafflesia Azlanii species is featured on the RM10 banknote. It is a species native to Peninsular Malaysia and was first discovered in the Royal Belum Forest Reserve in the state of Perak in 2003. To commemorate this discovery, this magnificent flower was named after the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Yusuff Izzuddin Shah Ghafarullahu-Lah.