38 
WEMOJR OF 
19 ins^rtPtl by fiumfrons nnK'Tnbran&reQnR sheaths 
wfiU'li ^(iirroviiut it in Kiirc4:'.s<}H''e InvE^rNr ^nd expand 
Rs tlip Imd PTilat'tfes, until lit length llipy form a cup 
roiiml its hast*. Thow shmhs or bracta arc large, 
roiJiul, fancflve, of a firiti memlnTinacf'oua consistence, 
anil of a Krrnvii rfjlfiur. The hutl Wfttn* expansion 
is (lejimssed, rotind, whh fivF olilui^e angle^f nearly 
a foot in dianietLT, and of a deep dusky red. Ihs 
flower, when fnUv expanded, m, in point of »ize» the 
wonder of llie veiietsdik- kirifrdom ; the breatlrh across, 
from the t«p of the one petal to the top of the other, 
IS three feet. The enp may he estimatetl capahleof 
rontaininpr twelve pints, and the weifjhl of the whole 
is from twelve tu fifii-en pouncb. The inside of the 
cup h of an intense purple, and more or less dense- 
ly yellow, Hrith soft flexible opines of the same co- 
lour. Towards tlie month, it iw niiirked ^vith nti- 
merouK depressed spots of tlie purest ivltite, con- 
trasting- stronjjly with the purple of the surroumling 
RubHtancp, which in considerably eh'vateil on the 
lower side, Tlie petals are of a brirk-red, with nu- 
merous pusfidsir K|tots of a lighter colour. The whole 
substance of the flower is not lesH than half an inch 
lliick, and of a firm fle*ihy consistence, h aoon af- 
ter expauHion begins to pve out a smell of decaying 
animal ntatter. Thy fruU nevf»r bursta, but the 
whole plant i;raduatty rots away, and the seeds diLk 
with the putrid ma^H, 
" There is nothinij more striking' in the Malayan 
foresta, than the (frandeur of the vegetmioa. The 
