n.
Pronunciation: r ə - ' fl ē -zh( ē -) ə , ra-
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin, from Sir Stamford Raffles † 1826 English colonial administrator
Date: 1830
: any of a genus ( Rafflesia of the family Rafflesiaceae) of Malaysian dicotyledonous plants that are parasitic in other plants and have fleshy usually foul-smelling apetalous flowers emerging from the host, imbricated scales in place of leaves, and no stems