Colossal Blossom

February 21, 2017
Rafflesia arnoldii

Professor Davis talks with Harvard Magazine about the peculiar genetics of Rafflesia, the largest flower in the world.

“It’s hard for me to describe what it is like to see one of these flowers for the first time...because they are so out of proportion from what we normally think of as a flower. And they have a coloration—reddish to brownish, mottled with white—that is off most people’s radar for what a flower should look like.”