Indonesıa Rafflesıa Patma

epa02184892 Indonesian plant researchers, Sofi Mursidawati (L)her fellow colleagues stand near a Rafflesia Patma Flower at the Bogor Botanical Garden, in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia on 01 June 2010. One of the world?s largest flowers, Rafflesia patma of the family Rafflesiaceae, has bloomed at the Bogor Botanical Garden ? the first time the species has reached maturity outside of its natural habitat. The plant was planted by researchers from Pangandaran Wildlife Reserve in West Java. ?The flower is the part of a research project we?ve been running from 2004 to 2007,? said Sofi Mursidawati, a researcher at the Bogor Botanical Garden. Sofi said the achievement was rare, adding that raising the parasitic plant in a lab had proven difficult. It lives only in certain habitats as a parasite on the Tetrastigma species of woody vine. Indonesia is home to 15 species of Rafflesia.  EPA/BAGUS INDAHONO