Monitoring of Cendawan Muka Rimau

(Rafflesia hasseltii)

Cendawan muka rimau ~Tiger face mushroom (Raflesia hasseltii) is one of rare and endemic plants in Bukit Tigapuluh National Park.   They are found only in the center of Bukit Tigapuluh, and blossom usually only February to April or in the rain season.    This plant is a mascot of Bukit Tigapuluh beside tiger, The mascots of Bukit Tigapuluh - plants and animals are tiger 
~animal is Sumatran tiger; and plant is tiger face mushroom.

 The plant was originally know as mushroom, it is actually a parasite that depends upon other plants to survive.  Like other Rafflesia, this species has roots (haustorium) that are used as tools in seeking nutirition.  Rafflesia hasseltii take its nutrition from the liana Tetrastigma lanceolarium (akar lima jari~traditional name).     

Leaf of haustorium~host

The species takes a long time to complete its life cycle.  It is thought it takes   about 280 days for Rafflesia to bloom, when the ‘flower’ reaches 18 cm in diameter.  The flower take about one day (24 hours) to reach perfect form then becomes rotten after 5-8 days.  This is very short time for us to enjoy the beauty of the flower.   When sprouting the flower is 20-50 cm in diameter, having an attractive color but producing a bad odour.  This smell becomes progressively more rotten over the next 2-3 days after blooming.  Male and female flowers are separate in species (dioeceous) which belong to the Rafflesiaceae family.  The seeds are dispersed by drainage, wind, insect and clawed mammals where the mammals species scratch their nails on liana and take Rafflesia seeds with them (Bukit Tigapuluh Natinal Park, 2004).   

Team members: - Time:   6-11 March 2007

                  1.      Santoso

2.      Sumarto

3.      Nanten

4.      Katak

 This team is not only monitoring the Rafflesia, but also must patrol to the other areas after finish monitoring this plant.   In all the team will stay in the forest about 16 days in this month.

Objective:                

1. Monitoring the Raflesia hasseltii, about number, location and threat.
2. Result :   We found this species in two location are:

A.    Location 1

This is the first time location founded the Rafflesia hasseltii and many people know this location.  This location beside the small river is Air Telap river.  The habitat is secondary forest, because about  years ago opened by local people for field rice.    This location only 50 m from  field of Talang Mamak people, and we  have agreement with this people:  they will protect the Rafflesia hasseltii, and if some one want to monitor this plant must be use the local people for guide.

 In this location we found  about 12 knob of Raflesia hasseltii, variated size between 3-9 cm.    the other we found 2 flower post blossom  with size about 30 cm and size of calyx 10 cm.  we make photo and count of size (diameter and tall) of knob every 5 hours in 20 hours (table 1 and 2).

 Table 1.   Size of knob

Table 2.  Height of knob

With this counting in 20 hours, the knob slow grow to bloom, and from interview the Talang Mamak people who have field near  this plant: the knob with size about 9 cm need  2 week before blossom. 

B.   Location 2

This location is new location and  only one of national park know and no many traditional people know this location.  This location beside Menduro Kecil river.  The habitat is secondary forest, about 200 m from ex corridor of logging concession (closed about 1995).

 In this location we only make photo of many size the plant, because  we don’t have enough time.  We found 8 knob, and luckily 1 bloom with diameter 36 cm and size of calyx  16 cm.

 Table 3.  Size of knob in location 2 (cm)

 The knob with diameter 13 cm  estimated need 3 days before blossom.

Threats

Threat for this plant is if the people open the habitat and cut the haustorium and burn, because if the haustorium die, its mean the Rafflesia will die.

The Rafflesia is a  type of parasitic flowering plants. Discovered in 1818 in an Indonesian Rainforest. There are 15-19 different types of Rafflesia all found in Southeast Asia.

The flowers look and smell like rotting meat - hence it's local names which translate to "corpse flower" or "meat flower" . These flowers are amazing to think they are so rare and there is only one little bee/insect in the whole of the ecosystem that can pollinate them so the flower kind of warms itself up giving off a stench so as to attract the bee.   

 The plant has no stems, leaves or true roots. It lives on vines the only part of the plant that can be seen outside the vine is the five petaled flower. 

 The Rafflesia arnoldii  has the largest single flower of any flowering plant  - maybe over 100 cm in diameter, and weigh up to 10 kg. STT fundraiser Ian Llewellyn recently traveled to West Sumatra and sent us some great photos of Rafflesia he spotted  Pictures coming soon......