Rare Rafflesia flower rediscovery in Indonesia revives push to drop colonial name

A giant flower’s rediscovery in a West Sumatran forest of Indonesia has spurred a growing campaign among researchers to change the colonial-era name of one of the world’s most famous plants. Last month’s find of an extremely rare Rafflesia hasseltii – one of the giant, foul-smelling blooms often dubbed “corpse flowers” – has energised researchers and activists seeking to strip the genus of its association with Thomas Stamford Raffles, a figure widely credited with founding colonial Singapore but...