Classification
- Species
- Rafflesia arnoldii
- Rafflesia aurantia
- Rafflesia azlanii
- Rafflesia baletei
- Rafflesia bengkuluensis
- Rafflesia cantleyi
- Rafflesia gadutensis
- Rafflesia hasseltii
- Rafflesia keithii
- Rafflesia kerrii
- Rafflesia leonardi
- Rafflesia lobata
- Rafflesia manillana
- Rafflesia micropylora
- Rafflesia mira
- Rafflesia patma
- Rafflesia philippensis
- Rafflesia pricei
- Rafflesia rochussenii
- Rafflesia schadenbergiana
- Rafflesia speciosa
- Rafflesia tengku-adlinii
- Rafflesia tuan-mudae
- Rafflesia verrucosa
- Unverified species
- Rafflesia borneensis
- Rafflesia ciliata
- Rafflesia titan
- Rafflesia witkampii
Comparison of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences of Rafflesia with other angiosperm mtDNA indicated this parasite evolved from photosynthetic plants of the order Malpighiales. Another study from that same year confirmed this result using both mtDNA and nuclear DNA sequences, and showed the three other groups traditionally classified in Rafflesiaceae were unrelated. A more recent study found Rafflesia and its relatives to be embedded within the family Euphorbiaceae, which is surprising, as members of that family typically have very small flowers. According to their analysis, the rate of flower size evolution was more or less constant throughout the family except at the origin of Rafflesiaceae, where the flowers rapidly evolved to become much larger before reverting to the slower rate of change.
Read more about this topic: Rafflesia