Flowers are the perfect example of nature being the most beautiful element of life. There is growth, joy, and peace in the presence and blossoming flowers. With so many different types of flowers scattered across the Earth, we have no shortage of beauty to bask in for us as humans.
And luckily for us, there are some flowers that are too big to ignore!
Today we will be looking at the top 10 biggest flowers in the world. These big flowers are amazing to look at as well as helpful for the ecosystem.
List of Biggest Flowers in the World
10. Lotus
A lotus, or Nelumbo Nucifera, is a broad flower with big leaves and is one of the most well-known flowers around the world. Lotuses have a lot of important in the cultural history of many nations, and it is a representative of sacredness and perseverance.
Lotus is also famously known for being the National flower of India.
Lotus flowers have been adapted to grow in muddy waters and flood plains in delta areas.
Lotus plants can be used for consumption, water treatment, and bio-engineering.
9. Magnolia
Magnolia Grandiflora is a beautiful flower that is found in the Asian and North American continents. Some fossils have been found that suggest Magnolia has existed on Earth for almost 100 million years.
Magnolia flowers have wide bulbs which can be as huge as 6 to 8 inches in diameter when grown. Also, Magnolia flowers do not produce any nectar but they produce sweet smells and secretions in order to attract insects for pollination.
The flower is mostly used in the field of medicine, used to treat weight loss, digestion problems, inflammation, and depression, among others.
8. Hibiscus
Hibiscus is a trumpet-shaped flower that can be of various sizes and shapes. It is usually found in China, India, and other Asian countries.
There are over 300 different varieties of Hibiscus known, and it is one of the largest flowers in the world, growing up to 8 inches in diameter.
Because there are so many varieties of this flower, it comes in multiple colors such as orange, red, white, and blue.
Hibiscus is credited with a lot of medicinal uses such as treating blood pressure and cholesterol, along with uses in beverage making, and food making, in some parts of the world.
7. Tree Peony
The tree peony is a very unique kind of flower that consists of shrubs with woody stems that stay alive throughout the year. These are flowers that can be 3 to 5 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide when fully grown.
Tree Peonies are native of China and have been growing there for hundreds of years. They are also found in other Asian countries as well as in Africa.
They die back into the ground each year and regrow back from their dormant roots in the spring season.
Peonies are mostly used for medicinal purposes as well as in making ornaments.
6. Common Sunflower
Common Sunflower, also known as Helianthus Annuus, is a big, leafy flower that is known for its radiance and beautiful color.
Sunflower is one of the largest flowers in the world when fully grown, reaching up to heights of 3 meters. These yellow color flowers are mostly found in Asia and both American continents.
Sunflower is also popular for its wide variety of uses.
The sun-shaped flower is mainly used for cooking, with sunflower oil being a popular cooking ingredient.
Apart from this, sunflower seeds can be roasted and consumed directly, and it is also used in medicines for treating malaria, arthritis, etc.
5. Puya Raimondii
Puya Raimondii is a wildflower found in places like the Andes Mountains of Peru and Bolivia and is considered the largest species of Bromeliad.
These flowers can grow to heights of 15 meters and each flower of the plant can contain 8-12 million seeds. These flowers grow in very rough and tough situations and can have a reproductive cycle and life of about 80 years.
Because of the drastic climate change and human-caused forest fires, these flowers are unfortunately considered an endangered species now.
4. Neptune Grass
Neptune Grass, also known as Posidonia Oceanica, is the only flower on this list that is found below sea level, usually found in the Mediterranean sea.
Neptune Grass has tape-shaped leaves which can be as long as 120 centimeters in length. This grass-like flower helps in providing oxidation to the bed of the ocean.
Neptune grass has a very high Carbon Dioxide absorbing capacity.
It yields a fruit known as Sea Olives and has also yielded natural metabolites such as phenols and phenylmethanes.
3. Talipot Palm
Talipot Palms are one of the largest palm varieties found in the world and they are mostly found in India, Sri Lanka, China, and Cambodia.
These palms can reach up to heights of 25 meters and have the largest inflorescence in the world. This means that it has a 6-8 meter long stem that contains approximately one to several million small flowers.
Talipot has the special ability that it flowers only once throughout its lifetime, and lives up to 60 years, and dies shortly after that. It is used to make palm wine, umbrellas, and was also used in the earlier days as a writing instrument.
2. Titan Arum
Amorphophallus titanium, or titan arum, is a flowering plant that is found only in the rainforests of Sumatra in Indonesia.
Much like the talipot palm, titan arum has a large inflorescence, but it has an unbranched one instead of a branched one.
It has a petal-like structure known as spathe and a large, hollow spike-like structure known as the spadix. This flower can reach up to 3 meters in height.
Titan arum is also known as the corpse flower because of its bad smell that resembles a corpse’s smell. The rotting meat resembling the smell of the flower attracts large carrion insects and flies to pollinate the plant.
1. Rafflesia Arnoldii
The largest flower in the world, Rafflesia arnoldii, has a diameter of over 3 feet and is mainly found in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia.
Rafflesia also has the decaying flesh smell as titan arum does. The flower does not have any visible leaves, stems, or roots, and therefore is only visible when it is in full blossom.
The flower weighs about 11 kilograms and has very large, maroon-colored buds that are as wide as 30 centimeters.
Unfortunately, due to deforestation and a limited geographical area for its existence, Rafflesia is considered an endangered flower.
Recommended Reads:
