8 of the Biggest Flowers on Earth..

For millions of years, flowers have dotted the landscape. Their simple manipulative evolutionary innovation—using color and scent to trick insects and animals into doing their bidding—has persisted and proven to be highly effective. Today, flowering plants are among the most diverse classes of life on the planet, and the exceedingly massive ones show just how far the adaptations have been pushed.

From the infamous, three-feet-in-diameter "monster flower" to a type of lily pad so large it can easily hold a small child, here are eight of the biggest flowers on earth.

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Monster Flower (Rafflesia arnoldii)
Large Rafflesia arnoldii blossom on the forest floor
Karl Lehmann / Getty Images

Among all of the large flowers, Rafflesia arnoldi produces the largest single bloom. Native to the rainforests of Malaysia and Indonesia, where it is one of three national flowers, the so-called "monster flower" can grow up to three feet in diameter and weigh up to 15 pounds.

More than its size, though, Rafflesia is known for its scent. It sometimes shares the common name "corpse flower" with another giant bloom, Amorphophallus titanum, because they both reek of rotting meat—an adaptation they developed to attract flies, which help pollinate the plants. The monster flower grows only on the tendrils of the Tetrastigma vine, which in turn only grows in pristine rainforest. This means the unusual bloom's habitat is rapidly disappearing.