RAFFLESIA

[raf.fle.sia] n [NL, fr. Sir Stamford Raffles d. 1826 Eng. colonial administrator] (1830): any of a genus (Rafflesia of the family Rafflesiaceae) of Malaysian dicotyledonous plants that are parasitic in other plants and have fleshy usu. foul-smelling apetalous flowers emerging from the host, imbricated scales in place of leaves, and no stems