The flora of the Malaysian rainforest is among the richest in the world. There are several thousand species of vascular plants, including more than 2,000 species of trees, as well as the parasitic monster flower (Rafflesia arnoldii of the Rafflesiaceae family), which bears the world’s largest known flower, measuring nearly 3 feet (1 metre) in diameter.

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    Numerous varieties of the carnivorous pitcher plants (Nepenthes) also grow in Malaysia’s forests. One acre (0.4 hectare) of forest may have as many as 100 different species of trees, as well as shrubs, herbs, lianas (creepers), and epiphytes (nonparasitic plants that grow on other plants and derive nourishment from the atmosphere).

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    Much of the original rainforest has been destroyed by clearances made for agricultural or commercial purposes, by severe wind and lightning storms, and by indigenous peoples clearing it for shifting cultivation. When such cleared land is subsequently abandoned, coarse grassland, scrub, and secondary forest often develops.