''Rafflesia philippensis'' 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 Parasite, parasitic plants develop a specialized organ ...

species of the

Rafflesiaceae The Rafflesiaceae are a family of rare parasitic plants comprising 36 species in 3 genera found in the tropical forests of east and southeast Asia, including ''Rafflesia arnoldii'', which has the largest flowers of all plants. The plants are e ...

family that was named by

Francisco Manuel Blanco Manuel María Blanco Ramos known as Manuel Blanco (1779 – 1845) was a Spanish friar and botanist. Biography Born in Navianos de Alba, Castilla y León, Spain, Blanco was a member of the Augustinian order of friars. His first assignment was ...

in his ''Flora de Filipinas'' in 1845. The species is known only from a mountain located between the provinces of Laguna and

Quezon Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon () and historically known as Tayabas, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon Regions of the Philippines, region on Luzon. Lucena, a highly urbanized ci ...

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

where it was first discovered. Its plant host is '' Tetrastigma pisicarpum''. This species went unnoticed since its first description by Blanco but was rediscovered in 2003 by members of the Tanggol Kalikasan, a local environment conservation group in Quezon province who first saw and photographed the open flower of this species. It was brought to the attention of Manuel S. Enverga University (MSEUF), who formed a team composed of students and faculty to document the newly discovered ''Rafflesia'' species.

Morphology

The mature flower bud of ''R. philippensis'' has a diameter of around 13-16 centimeters. Its fully opened flower has a diameter of 29.3-32 centimeters, placing it in a group composed of other small-sized ''

Rafflesia ''Rafflesia'' (), or stinking corpse lily, is a genus of Parasitic plants, 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 p ...

'' species such as '' R. manillana'', '' R. lobata'', and '' R. baletei'', whose open flowers measure an average of 20 centimeters in diameter. The open flower has 9-10 reddish perigone lobes measuring 9.0-10.5 centimeters with 8-12 white oval or elongated warts fused together along the median part of the lobe. ''R. philippensis'' has a distinctive closed diaphragm, same reddish color with the perigone lobes, 3.5-4.0 centimeters thick and measuring 12.5-13.0 centimeters across. The diaphragm’s opening has a diameter of 5.5-6.0 centimeters with an inner white margin lining. The diaphragm’s surface, like the perigone, is blotted with a network of white, thin, elongated and continuous warts.

Distribution

The species is known to occur as a small single population within the vicinity of Mount Banahaw National Park (14°03.239 N, 121°29.214 E), a protected area located south of the Laguna-Quezon provincial boundary line, between Laguna de Bay to the north and Tayabas Bay to the south. The mountain rises to about 2,100 meters above sea level. The park has been closed to the public since 2003 to allow the forest to recover from the adverse effects of human activities in the area. The population of ''R. philippensis'' is located along a trail in Kinabuhayan, Dolores,

Quezon province Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon () and historically known as Tayabas, is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Lucena, a highly urbanized city governed separately from the province, serves as the ...

Taxonomy

The taxonomy and nomenclature of this species is complex. The most recent work by Dr. Julie Barcelona and colleagues has documented that the taxon named by Blanco in the mid-19th century is indeed the same as the taxon named by her own research group and that of Dr. Domingo Madulid. Thus, the two later names, ''R. banahawensis'' and ''R. banahaw'' are synonyms of ''R. philippensis''.

References

External links

Parasitic Plant Connection: ''Rafflesia philippensis'' page
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4118523 philippensis Endemic flora of the Philippines Flora of Luzon Taxa named by Francisco Manuel Blanco