RAFFLESIA is a parasitic plant that spends most of its life cycle inside its host, a tropical vine, rising solely to bloom. Its flowers are the biggest on the earth, spanning as much as a metre. Regardless of this, little is thought about its life cycle, and it’s virtually inconceivable to develop.

Half of the Rafflesia species identified to science had been described prior to now 20 years, but most have since come near extinction. It is a plant in peril. On a current journey within the Philippines, I noticed a inhabitants decimated to make means for crops. As is commonly the case, a smallholder farmer was accountable – anyone simply attempting to make ends meet.

What’s the resolution? Defending habitats is the very best safeguard. However this solely works if we all know the place Rafflesia happens within the first place. Usually, we don’t. Area people motion teams are essential on this respect to watch populations.

Past in-habitat conservation, most vegetation could be protected in seed banks or botanic gardens. However Rafflesia is an intractable parasite. The one botanic backyard to have cultivated it efficiently is in Bogor, Indonesia, the place Rafflesia-infected vines are grafted onto new, uninfected rootstocks.

In 2022, my colleagues Pastor Malabrigo Jr and Adriane Tobias on the College of the Philippines Los Baños and I went to Bogor to learn to develop the ungrowable. Again within the Philippines, we tried the nation’s first ever Rafflesia propagation in a protected forest reserve. If our R. panchoana graft is profitable, we could have created a template for propagating Rafflesia species on the point of extinction within the Philippines.

Chris Thorogood (@thorogoodchris1) is deputy director of the College of Oxford Botanic Backyard and creator of Pathless Forest