Rafflesia is the name of a large group of plants all of which smell of rotting flesh to attract flies and carrion beetles. A bright red flower reeking of decomposing flesh has bloomed in Indonesia ...

Some arums, stapelia and the largest flower in the world - the rafflesia - smell like rotting meat! The reason for this horrible whiff is to attract flies, which carry their pollen to other flowers.

This was the largest flower in the world, the book said, spanning over a metre. I was possessed by it and wanted to see one growing in the wild more than anything. Rafflesia had cast its spell on me.