New flower species found in Cagayan

CAGAYAN – A newly discovered flower species from this northernmost province will be formally introduced here by local and international environmental groups next week.

Believed to be found only in the Philippines, the flower species, called Rafflesia leonardi, was discovered recently in the province’s mountain area by noted Filipino botanist Leonardo Co of Conservation International, after whom it is named.

Perla Visorro, of the Cagayan Valley Partners in People Development (Cavapped), said the flower’s formal launch here will also coincide with the holding of a media forum on biodioversity conservation at the regional office of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) on Nov 17.

“The (event) will be conducted also in partnership with the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources, Conservation International-Philippines and Enterprise Works Worldwide,” said Visorro, Cavapped president and chief executive officer.

According to the environmental group, the new flower species, with features similar to R. lobata and R. manillana, is the fourth Rafflesia species found in Luzon and the eighth from all over the country.

Also dubbed “corpse flower” or “meat flower,” Rafflesia, a genus of parasitic flowering plants, was first discovered in the Indonesian rainforest in 1818.

It was named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, leader of the expedition team that discovered the plant.

With 26 species all found in southeastern Asia, including the Philippines, the five-petalled flower, usually brown and grayish with a dotted design, has no stems, leaves or true roots.

In some species such as R. arnoldii, the flower may be over 39 inches in diameter and weigh up to 22 pounds.

Other species like the R. manillana have flowers with smaller diameter and look and smell like rotten meat, attracting insects such as carrion flies which help transport pollen among the flowers.