MP Wants To Change Name Of Rafflesia Flower, But It Already Has A Local Name
The world’s largest flower smells like rotting flesh and decaying meat.
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The Rafflesia, known as the world’s largest flower, is a part of Malaysia’s natural and geographical identity. It was named after Sir Stamford Raffles, the British colonial official and founder of the port city of Singapore.
At a Dewan Rakyat session yesterday (19 August) on the topic of government allocations for the preservation of rainforests in Malaysia, Machang member of parliament Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal raised a suggestion to change the name of the Rafflesia flower in conjunction with Hari Merdeka, as a way to break away from the country’s history of colonialism.
“Rafflesia is named after Stamford Raffles, someone who colonised us, someone who is unethical, and we gave our flower his name.
“Perhaps we can decide to name it something else? We can even name it Anwar Ibrahim,” Wan Fayhsal joked.
A user on Threads commenting on the matter said that any normal person can “change the name” but it must go through a process of studies, publications, and peer studies that are approved by the international botany community.
“The power to change or designate a scientific name of a plant falls in the hands of the international scientific community,” the user said.
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Rafflesia already has a name in Bahasa Melayu
The Rafflesia already goes by many names even before the colonist Raffles set foot on Malaysian soil.
Here, it is locally known as Pakma, Patma, and Ambai-ambai, but Pakma is more commonly used. Etymologically, the word pakma originates from the word padma, which is Sanskrit for “lotus”.
It is also referred to as Bunga Bangkai, which translates to “corpse flower” due to its unique and pungent odour that is often described as resembling rotting flesh or decaying meat. The smell actually serves a function — to attract insects like flies to help it pollinate.
The flower can grow to over one meter, and some individual flowers can weigh up to ten kilograms.
From the perspective of traditional medicine, the Rafflesia plays an important role in the health practices of the Orang Asli community. Certain parts of the flower, including its roots, are believed to have medicinal properties particularly in treating women after childbirth. However, there is no scientific research confirming its effectiveness.
The flower is categorised as critically endangered
The Rafflesia flower remains poorly understood due to its elusive life cycle. In its bud stage, it potentially takes about nine months to bloom. Once the bud opens, the flower’s lifespan is very short — typically five to seven days. After the blooming period, the flower rapidly decays.
According to a University of Oxford report in 2023, a group of scientists established a coordinated global network to study the threats the Rafflesia is facing.
The study found that that all 42 species of Rafflesia are under threat. Based on criteria used by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 25 of the species are labelled as critically endangered, 15 as endangered, and two as vulnerable.
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