The Big & Small of Flowers

woffia

Wolffia, or watermeal, one of the duckweeds in the Lemnaceae family, is the smallest flowering plant. Wolffia seeds are about the size of a grain of sand.

Three types of duckweed are pictured in this pond. The larger leaves are Spirodela polyrhiza, the medium ones are Lemna minor and the itty-bitty ones are Wolffia arrhiza.

Albeit minute, Wolffia is a potential food source, as it has about the same percentage of protein as soy beans.

Rafflesia

The largest flower is also the stinkiest—the rafflesia arnoldii or corpse lily.

It can measure about a meter across. The fetid odor, what has been described as smelling like rotting flesh, is the plant’s way of attracting flies to pollinate it. The plant is native to the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo and lives as a parasite on the tetrastigma vine.