Antara 8 Oct 10;
Samosir, N Sumatra, (ANTARA News) - A team of Samosir botanical workers has discovered a rare species of the Rafflesia meijerii flower at an altitude of 1,711 meters above sea level in a forest in the Hujanda region.
The team found the rare flower while it was making a biodiversity orientation field trip and conducting a survey in forest areas in the Hujanda region, Gomgom Naibaho, a spolesman of the Samosir district administration said here Friday.
He said the find was significant because in North Sumatra the flower was so far known to grow only in the Sicikeh-cikeh region, the Dairi Natural Garden and Batang Gadis National Park, Mandaling Natal.
Also according to scientific records, the Rafflesia Meijerii could normally grow only at an altitude of 1,320 meters above sea level. The flower found in the Hujanda area, however, grew at a higher altitude, namely 1,711 meters above sea level.
In existing literature on the flower, there were only 11 Rafflesia species in Indonesia. This meant that the find in the Hujands region was the 12th species in Indonesia.
"Therefore, the Rafflesia Meijerii flower in the Juhanda region deserves the serious attention of all stakeholders concerned." Naibaho said.
The team that had found the rare flower consisted of members of the technical implementation unit (UPT) of the Samosir Botanical Garden and of the Aek Natonang Arboretum, namely Roliat N Siregar, Frisca E Sidabutar, Reinheart DMT D Simarmata, Emerzon Siadari and Boy Sinaga.(*)
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