''Rafflesia consueloae'' is a

parasitic plant A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants develop a specialized organ called the ...

species of the genus ''

Rafflesia ''Rafflesia'' () is a genus of parasitic flowering plants in the family Rafflesiaceae. The species have enormous flowers, the buds rising from the ground or directly from the lower stems of their host plants; one species has the largest flowers i ...

'' endemic to the island of

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It is the smallest species of the genus ''

''.

Taxonomy

The ''Rafflesia consueloae'' discovery was a result of a long-term biodiversity conservation and monitoring program at the Pantabangan-Carranglan Watershed which commenced in March 2011. ''R. consueloae'' was discovered on 11 February 2014 when a researcher walking in a heavily degraded rain forest north of

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

tripped over a mass of rotting leaves, and noticed an unusual bloom; a monitoring for the ''Rafflesia'' species was immediately started. The research team installed motion-activated camera to observe the life cycle of ''R. consueloae''. ''Rafflesia consueloae'' was described and illustrated by John Michael M. Galindon and Perry S. Ong of the

University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

and Edwino S. Fernando of University of the Philippines Los Baños. The species was named after Consuelo Rufino Lopez, the spouse of industrialist and conservationist, Oscar M. Lopez. Under the Wildlife Forensics and DNA Barcoding of the Philippine Biodiversity Program of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources-Biodiversity Management Bureau, the

DNA barcode DNA barcoding is a method of species identification using a short section of DNA from a specific gene or genes. The premise of DNA barcoding is that by comparison with a reference library of such DNA sections (also called " sequences"), an indi ...

of ''R. consueloae'' and its host, an unidentified species of ''

Tetrastigma ''Tetrastigma'' is a genus of plants in the grape family, Vitaceae. The plants are lianas that climb with tendrils and have palmately compound leaves. Plants are dioecious, with separate male and female plants; female flowers are characterized ...

'', is being studied.

Description

The species is the smallest of all ''Rafflesia'', measuring an average diameter of when fully expanded. The disk surface of newly opened flowers of ''R. consueloae'' is described to as distinctly cream-white and usually without processes. It is reported that ''R. consueloae'' has bisexual flowers, the third species after '' R. baletei'' and '' R. verrucosato'' to be described as such in the Philippines, but it has not been established whether both sexes of each flower are functional. ''Rafflesia consueloaes flowers do not exhibit the distinct odor found in '' R. arnoldii'' (nicknamed the "corpse flower") and most species of ''Rafflesia'', with its fruit instead bearing a smell reminiscent of young coconut meat.

Distribution and habitat

There are only two known habitats of the ''Rafflesia consueloae'' which are both within the Pantabangan-Carranglan Watershed in Pantabangan,

Nueva Ecija Nueva Ecija, officially the Province of Nueva Ecija ( tgl, Lalawigan ng Nueva Ecija , also ; ilo, Probinsia ti Nueva Ecija; pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Nueva Ecija; Kapampangan: ''Lalawigan/Probinsia ning Nueva Ecija''), is a landlocked province ...

. The species is known to occur in Mount Balukbok and Mount Pantaburon. Its area of habitat in Mount Pantaburon is an old reforestation site. ''Rafflesia consueloae'' is known to occur between and above sea level. It grows exclusively in the roots of an unidentified species of ''Tetrastigma'' among

thicket A thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others. They may be formed by species that shed large numbers of highly viable seeds that are able to germinate in t ...

s of ''Dinochloa luconiae'', a climbing bamboo.

Conservation

''Rafflesia consueloae'' was classified as "Critically Endangered" based on the IUCN Categories and Criteria of 2012 (IUCN 3.1) by those who described the species. The habitat of the species is a known hunting ground for some members of the local community. The sites are also particularly vulnerable to

forest fires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

during the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q22960677 consueloae Endemic flora of the Philippines Flora of Luzon