Rafflesia is a
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
of parasitic
flowering plantThe flowering plants or angiosperms are the most diverse group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of seed plants...
s. It was discovered in the
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n rain forest by an Indonesian guide working for Dr.
Joseph ArnoldJoseph Arnold was a naval surgeon and naturalist. His specimen collection is in the museum of the Linnean Society....
in 1818, and named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the leader of the expedition. It contains approximately 27 species (including four incompletely characterized species as recognized by
MeijerWillem 'Wim' Meijer was a Dutch botanist and plant collector.-Background and education:Meijer was born in 1923 in The Hague, Netherlands. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam in 1951...
1997), all found in southeastern Asia, on the
Malay PeninsulaThe Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a major peninsula located in Southeast Asia, with its narrowest point at the Isthmus of Kra. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its teminus, is the most southern point of the Asian mainland...
,
BorneoBorneo is the third largest island in the world and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided among Indonesia , Malaysia and Brunei . Indonesians refer to the island as Kalimantan...
,
SumatraSumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world .-Etymology:Sumatra was known in ancient times by the Sanskrit...
, and the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
.
Rafflesia is a
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
of parasitic
flowering plantThe flowering plants or angiosperms are the most diverse group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of seed plants...
s. It was discovered in the
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n rain forest by an Indonesian guide working for Dr.
Joseph ArnoldJoseph Arnold was a naval surgeon and naturalist. His specimen collection is in the museum of the Linnean Society....
in 1818, and named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the leader of the expedition. It contains approximately 27 species (including four incompletely characterized species as recognized by
MeijerWillem 'Wim' Meijer was a Dutch botanist and plant collector.-Background and education:Meijer was born in 1923 in The Hague, Netherlands. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam in 1951...
1997), all found in southeastern Asia, on the
Malay PeninsulaThe Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a major peninsula located in Southeast Asia, with its narrowest point at the Isthmus of Kra. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its teminus, is the most southern point of the Asian mainland...
,
BorneoBorneo is the third largest island in the world and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided among Indonesia , Malaysia and Brunei . Indonesians refer to the island as Kalimantan...
,
SumatraSumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world .-Etymology:Sumatra was known in ancient times by the Sanskrit...
, and the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
. The plant has no stems, leaves or true roots. It is an endoparasite of vines in the genus
TetrastigmaTetrastigma is a genus of plants in the grape family, Vitaceae. The plants are vines that climb with tendrils and have palmately compound leaves. The species are found in subtropical and tropical regions of Asia, Malesia, and Australia, where they grow in primary undisturbed rainforest...
(
VitaceaeVitaceae are a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants including the grape and Virginia creeper. The family name is derived from the genus Vitis...
), spreading its root-like haustoria inside the tissue of the vine. The only part of the plant that can be seen outside the host vine is the five-petaled
flowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
. In some species, such as
Rafflesia arnoldiiRafflesia arnoldii is a member of the genus Rafflesia. It is noted for producing the largest individual flower on earth. It occurs only in the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo in the Malay Archipelago...
, the flower may be over in diameter, and weigh up to . Even the smallest species,
R. manillana, has 20 cm diameter flowers. The flowers look and smell like rotting
fleshFlesh is the biological tissue of a person or animal located between the skin and the bones. In ordinary speech, it typically contrasts with bone, as in the merism flesh and bone. It mainly refers to skeletal muscle and associated fat, though it includes all other internal soft tissue...
, hence its local names which translate to "corpse flower" or "meat flower" (but see below). The vile smell that the flower gives off attracts insects such as flies and
carrionCarrion refers to the carcass of a dead animal. Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters, or scavengers, include Hyenas, Vultures, Canadian Opossum, Tasmanian Devils, Black Bears, Komodo Dragons, Bald Eagles, Raccoons,...
beetles, which transport pollen from male to female flowers. Little is known about seed dispersal. However, tree shrews and other forest mammals apparently eat the fruits and disperse the seeds.
Rafflesia is an official state flower of
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, also
SabahSabah is a Malaysian state located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo . It is the second largest state in Malaysia after Sarawak, which it borders on its south-west. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...
state in
MalaysiaMalaysia is a country in Southeast Asia that consists of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million inhabitants...
, as well as for the
Surat Thani ProvinceSurat Thani is the largest of the southern provinces of Thailand, on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Thailand. Surat Thani means City of Good People, the title given to the city by King Vajiravudh ....
,
ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
.
The name "corpse flower" applied to
Rafflesia is confusing because this common name also refers to the
Titan ArumThe titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world...
(
Amorphophallus titanum) of the family
AraceaeAraceae is a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe or leaf-like hood. The group also goes by the name of Arum family and species in this...
. Moreover, because
Amorphophallus has the world's largest unbranched
inflorescenceAn inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
, it is sometimes mistakenly credited as having the world's largest flower. Both
Rafflesia and
Amorphophallus are flowering plants, but they are still distantly related.
Rafflesia arnoldiiRafflesia arnoldii is a member of the genus Rafflesia. It is noted for producing the largest individual flower on earth. It occurs only in the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo in the Malay Archipelago...
has the largest
single flower of any flowering plant, at least when one judges this by weight.
Amorphophallus titanum has the largest
unbranched inflorescence, while the
Talipot palmCorypha umbraculifera is a species of palm, native to southern India and Sri Lanka.It is one of the largest palms in the world; individual specimens have reached heights of up to 25 m, with stems up to 1.3 m in diameter...
(
Corypha umbraculifera) forms the largest
branched inflorescence, containing thousands of flowers; this plant is monocarpic, meaning that individuals die after flowering.
Classification
Species
- Rafflesia arnoldii
Rafflesia arnoldii is a member of the genus Rafflesia. It is noted for producing the largest individual flower on earth. It occurs only in the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo in the Malay Archipelago...
- Rafflesia azlanii
Rafflesia azlanii is a parasitic flowering plant endemic to Peninsular Malaysia. It is most similar to R. cantleyi, but differs in having larger perigone blotches.-External links:*...
- Rafflesia baletei
Rafflesia baletei is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It is endemic to the Philippines.The species was first collected in 1991 by Bicolano mammalogist Danilo S. Balete on Mount Isarog and was initially thought to be Rafflesia manillana. It was only in 2006 that Filipino scientists...
- Rafflesia banahawensis
Rafflesia banahawensis is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia that was discovered by Filipino scientists in 2006. It is the eighth member of the genus to be described from the Philippines and the third species recorded from the island of Luzon. Its plant host is Tetrastigma pisicarpum.R...
- Rafflesia bengkuluensis
Rafflesia bengkuluensis is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It is native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra....
- Rafflesia cantleyi
Rafflesia cantleyi is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It can be found in Peninsular Malaysia and Pulau Tioman, an island off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. This species is almost identical to R. hasseltii, except for the number of warts on the perigone lobes of the two...
- Rafflesia gadutensis
Rafflesia gadutensis is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It is native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. R. gadutensis was named after the place where it was first collected, Ulu Gadut in Western Sumatra....
- Rafflesia hasseltii
Rafflesia hasseltii is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It can be found in Kerinci Seblat National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia....
- Rafflesia keithii
Rafflesia keithii is a parasitic flowering plant in the genus Rafflesia endemic to Sabah in Borneo. The flowers can grow up to one metre in diameter. It is named after Henry George Keith, former Conservator of Forests in North Borneo .-External links:*...
- Rafflesia kerrii
Rafflesia kerrii is a member of the genus Rafflesia. It is found in the rainforest of southern Thailand and peninsular Malaysia, with the most famous population in the Khao Sok National Park. The local Thai names are Bua Phut and Bua Tum .The red flowers have a diameter of 50-90 cm and smell...
- Rafflesia leonardi
Rafflesia leonardi is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It is endemic to the Philippines. R. leonardi is the fourth Rafflesia species found in Luzon and the eighth from the Philippines...
- Rafflesia lobata
Rafflesia lobata is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It is endemic to the Philippine island of Panay, particularly the mountains of Antique and Iloilo provinces. This is the second species recorded from the island of Panay....
- Rafflesia manillana
Rafflesia manillana is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It is endemic to the Philippines.This species was named after the city of Manila....
- Rafflesia micropylora
Rafflesia micropylora is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It is endemic to the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.This species was named because of the small opening of its diaphragm....
- Rafflesia mira
Rafflesia mira, also called Rafflesia magnifica, is a member of the genus Rafflesia. It is endemic in the rainforest of Mindanao, Philippines and can only be found in the vicinity of Mount Candalaga, Compostela Valley province....
- Rafflesia panchoana
Rafflesia panchoana is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It is endemic to the Philippines.R. panchoana is found in the vicinity of Mount Makiling, Laguna and named after Juan V. Pancho, a Filipino botanist from the University of the Philippines....
- Rafflesia patma
Rafflesia patma is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It was first collected from the Indonesian island of Kembangan, located off the Indian Ocean coast of Java....
- Rafflesia pricei
Rafflesia pricei is a parasitic flowering plant endemic to Borneo. It is named after amateur botanist William Price, who discovered the species on Mount Kinabalu in the 1960s.-External links:*...
- Rafflesia rochussenii
Rafflesia rochussenii is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It is endemic to the Indonesian island of Java....
- Rafflesia schadenbergiana
Rafflesia schadenbergiana is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. Known as "bó-o" to the Bagobo tribe and "kolon busaw" to the Higaonon tribe of Bukidnon, it has the largest flower among the Rafflesia species found in the Philippines with a diameter ranging from 52-80 centimeters. It...
- Rafflesia speciosa
Rafflesia speciosa is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It is endemic to the Philippine island of Panay. R. speciosa is the third Rafflesia species documented to exist in the Philippines, after R. manillana and R. schadenbergiana. It belongs to the medium-sized Rafflesia .R...
- Rafflesia tengku-adlinii
Rafflesia tengku-adlinii is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It was discovered on Mount Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia in 1987.This species was named after Tengku D. Z. Adlin, conservationist and president of the Sabah Society....
- Rafflesia tuan-mudae
Rafflesia tuan-mudae is a member of the Rafflesiaceae family. It lives as a parasite on the Tetrastigma vine. The enormous flowers may reach up to 1 m in diameter...
Unverified species
- Rafflesia borneensis
- Rafflesia ciliata
- Rafflesia titan
- Rafflesia witkampii
Comparison of
mitochondrial DNAMitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within cells that convert the energy from food into a form that cells can use...
(mtDNA) sequences of
Rafflesia with other angiosperm mtDNA indicated that this parasite evolved from photosynthetic plants of the order
MalpighialesMalpighiales is one of the largest orders of flowering plants, containing about 16000 species, approximately 7.8% of the eudicots. The order is very diverse and hard to recognize except with molecular phylogenetic evidence. It is not part of any of the classification systems that are based only...
.. Another study from that same year confirmed this result using both mtDNA and nuclear DNA sequences, and showed that three other groups traditionally classified in Rafflesiaceae were unrelated. A more recent study found
Rafflesia and its relatives to be embedded within the family
EuphorbiaceaeThe Spurge family is a large family of flowering plants with 300 genera and around 7,500 species. Most are herbs, but some, especially in the tropics, are also shrubs or trees. Some are succulent and resemble cacti....
, 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
RafflesiaceaeRafflesiaceae is a family of parasitic plants found in east and southeast Asia, including Rafflesia arnoldii, the plant with the largest flower of all plants. The plants are endoparasites of vines in the genus Tetrastigma and lack stems, leaves, roots, and any photosynthetic tissue...
, where the flowers rapidly evolved to become much larger before reverting to the slower rate of change.
Philippine species
Since 2002 there has been a tremendous amount of activity by
FilipinoThe Filipino people are the nationals of the Republic of the Philippines and to persons having Filipino ancestry. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines and about 11 million outside the Philippines....
scientists who have discovered and named several new species of
Rafflesia. Before this time there were two species known:
R. manillanaRafflesia manillana is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It is endemic to the Philippines.This species was named after the city of Manila....
and
R. schadenbergianaRafflesia schadenbergiana is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. Known as "bó-o" to the Bagobo tribe and "kolon busaw" to the Higaonon tribe of Bukidnon, it has the largest flower among the Rafflesia species found in the Philippines with a diameter ranging from 52-80 centimeters. It...
, the latter of which was last seen in 1882 on Mt. Apo in
DavaoDavao refers to several closely-related places in Mindanao in the Philippines. The term is used most often to refer to the city.*Davao Region, the administrative region*Davao del Norte province*Davao del Sur province*Davao Oriental province*Davao City...
Province on
MindanaoMindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also one of the three island groups in the country, along with Luzon and Visayas...
Island, but was thought to be extinct. The following gives a chronicle of these activities:
- 2002. A Rafflesia was found in the mountains of Antique Province that differed from any previously described. It was named Rafflesia speciosa
Rafflesia speciosa is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It is endemic to the Philippine island of Panay. R. speciosa is the third Rafflesia species documented to exist in the Philippines, after R. manillana and R. schadenbergiana. It belongs to the medium-sized Rafflesia .R...
by Barcelona and Fernando (Kew Bulletin, 57: 647-651, 2002).
- 2005. Another Rafflesia was discovered in the Philippines
The Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
by Drs. Fernando and Ong on remote Mount Candalaga, MaragusanMaragusan is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Compostela Valley, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 45,937 people in 8,762 households.-Barangays:Maragusan is politically subdivided into 24 barangays....
, Compostela ValleyCompostela Valley is a province of the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. The province, called Comval for short, used to be part of Davao del Norte until it was made independent in 1998. It is the third newest province of the Philippines, behind Dinagat Islands and Zamboanga...
province in MindanaoMindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also one of the three island groups in the country, along with Luzon and Visayas...
. It was named Rafflesia miraRafflesia mira, also called Rafflesia magnifica, is a member of the genus Rafflesia. It is endemic in the rainforest of Mindanao, Philippines and can only be found in the vicinity of Mount Candalaga, Compostela Valley province....
by Fernando and Ong (2005. Asia Life Sciences 14: 263-270). Another group (Madulid et al. 2005 Acta Manilana 53: 1-6) published another name (R. magnifica) later, thus R. mira stands as the nomenclaturally valid name. R. mira (45-60 cm in diameter), is approximately the same size as R. speciosa (45-56 cm) of Antique ProvinceAntique is a province of the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is San Jose and is located at the western portion of Panay Island, bordering Aklan, Capiz, and Iloilo to the east. Antique faces the Sulu Sea to the west....
, but definitely larger than LuzonLuzon is the largest and most economically and politically important island in the Philippines and one of the three island groups in the country, with Visayas and Mindanao being the other two...
’s R. manillana (14-20 cm in diameter).
- 2005. During his expedition to Mt. Igtuog and Mt. Sakpaw in the Central Panay mountain range in April 2005, Renee Galang discovered a previously undescribed Rafflesia. This was named R. lobata
Rafflesia lobata is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It is endemic to the Philippine island of Panay, particularly the mountains of Antique and Iloilo provinces. This is the second species recorded from the island of Panay....
by Galang and Madulid (2006, Folia Malaysiana 7: 1-8).
- 2006. Danny Balete collected a previously undescribed species of Rafflesia in 1991 in the Bicol Region
The Bicol Region or Bicolandia is one of the 17 regions of the Philippines. It occupies the Bicol Peninsula at the southeastern end of Luzon island and some other islands....
of southern Luzon. The collection was not recognized as a new species until further field work confirmed that this taxon was different than R. manillanaRafflesia manillana is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It is endemic to the Philippines.This species was named after the city of Manila....
. Several new populations have also been seen in the Camarines SurCamarines Sur is a province of the Philippines located in the Bicol Region in Luzon. Its capital is Pili and the province borders Camarines Norte and Quezon to the north, and Albay to the south. To the east lies the island province of Catanduanes across Maqueda Channel.Camarines Sur is the largest...
Province (Mount IsarogMount Isarog is a potentially active stratovolcano located in the province of Camarines Sur, Island of Luzon, Philippines.It was here that Bicolano guerillas hid during the Japanese Period...
and Mount IrigaMount Iriga, also known as Mount Asog, is one of the active volcanos in the Philippines, in the province of Camarines Sur, in the Philippines, at geographical coordinates 13°27.4'N, 123°27.4'E....
)] in the vicinity of BuhiBuhi, a world famous town in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 70,756 people....
and Iriga CityThe City of Iriga is a fourth class city in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. It is located about 400 kilometers south of Manila, 37 kilometers south of Naga, and about 61 kilometers north of Legazpi City...
. This was named R. baleteiRafflesia baletei is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It is endemic to the Philippines.The species was first collected in 1991 by Bicolano mammalogist Danilo S. Balete on Mount Isarog and was initially thought to be Rafflesia manillana. It was only in 2006 that Filipino scientists...
by Barcelona, Cajano, and Hadsall (2006. Kew Bulletin 61: 231-237). The names R. irigaense or R. irigaenses are invalid and refers to the same taxon.
- 2007. In 1994 Pascal Lays rediscovered buds of R. schadenbergiana
Rafflesia schadenbergiana is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. Known as "bó-o" to the Bagobo tribe and "kolon busaw" to the Higaonon tribe of Bukidnon, it has the largest flower among the Rafflesia species found in the Philippines with a diameter ranging from 52-80 centimeters. It...
in South Cotabato. His paper reporting this result has only recently been published. Moreover, Dr. Julie Barcelona reports on the discovery of yet another population of this rare species in BukidnonBukidnon is a landlocked province of the Philippines located in the Northern Mindanao region. Its capital is Malaybalay City...
(Flora Malesiana Bulletin, submitted; see also Parasitic Plant Connection).
- 2007. Mount Banahaw
Mount Banahaw is one of the active volcanos in the Philippines. Part of a volcanic group, it is located along the boundary of Laguna and Quezon provinces, on the island of Luzon, in the Philippines....
in LuzonLuzon is the largest and most economically and politically important island in the Philippines and one of the three island groups in the country, with Visayas and Mindanao being the other two...
, a popular destination for mountaineering and religious groups seemed, until recently, an unlikely spot to find a new species of Rafflesia. But such was the case. Ironically, two papers have been published naming this Rafflesia as a new species. Apparently the first one was by Madulid et al. (2006, Philippine Scientist 43: 43–51 - but only available July 2007) and the second by Barcelona et al. (2007, Blumea 52: 345–350). Thus, the correct name is R. banahawensisRafflesia banahawensis is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia that was discovered by Filipino scientists in 2006. It is the eighth member of the genus to be described from the Philippines and the third species recorded from the island of Luzon. Its plant host is Tetrastigma pisicarpum.R...
, not R. banahaw.
- 2007. Additional field and herbarium work on the Rafflesia known originally as R. manillana from Mount Makiling
Mount Makiling, also rarely Mount Maquiling, is a potentially active volcano in Laguna province on the island of Luzon, Philippines. It rises to 1,090 m above mean sea level.-Legend:...
yielded the description of a new species, R. panchoanaRafflesia panchoana is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It is endemic to the Philippines.R. panchoana is found in the vicinity of Mount Makiling, Laguna and named after Juan V. Pancho, a Filipino botanist from the University of the Philippines....
by D. A. Madulid and coauthors (2007, Acta Manilana 55: 43-47 - but available only in 2008).
- 2008. In the remote sitio Kinapawan in the coastal town of Lal-lo
Lal-lo is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Cagayan, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 39,607people in 7,443 households....
in Cagayan ValleyCagayan Valley is a region of the Philippines, also designated as Region II or Region 02. It is composed of five provinces, namely: Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino...
, a Rafflesia was made known to Filipino botanists. Working with CAVAPPED, CI, and DENR staff, Julie Barcelona traveled to the site and collected the type of this Rafflesia. R. leonardiRafflesia leonardi is a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia. It is endemic to the Philippines. R. leonardi is the fourth Rafflesia species found in Luzon and the eighth from the Philippines...
is similar to R. manillana (of SamarSamar, formerly Western Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catbalogan City and covers the western portion of Samar island as well as several islands in the Samar Sea located to the west of the mainland. Catbalogan City and Calbayog City,...
and LuzonLuzon is the largest and most economically and politically important island in the Philippines and one of the three island groups in the country, with Visayas and Mindanao being the other two...
) and R. lobata of Panay by the wide diaphragm aperture and flowers that grow on the roots and aerial portion of the vine. It is, however, different in its larger size (to 34 cm), central disk that is nearly smooth or with markedly reduced processes, and the absence of white blotches/windows inside the floral tube. It was determined that this was a new species and was named in honor of Leonardo Co who is an expert on the Cagayan flora (2008. Blumea 53: 223-228). It is the 5th Rafflesia found on LuzonLuzon is the largest and most economically and politically important island in the Philippines and one of the three island groups in the country, with Visayas and Mindanao being the other two...
and the 9th from the Philippines. Popular articles describing this discovery can be found in the following references.
See also
- Amorphophallus titanum
The titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world...
, similar smelling plant, sometimes known as "corpse flower".
- Parasitic plant
A parasitic plant is one that derives some or all of its sustenance from another plant. About 4,100 species in approximately 19 families of flowering plants are known. Parasitic plants have a modified root, the haustorium, that penetrates the host plant and connects to the xylem, phloem, or both....
- Carrion plant
Carrion plant can refer to:* Stapelia grandiflora* Stapelia gigantea* Carrion flower...
- Vileplume
- Venusaur
External links