Rafflesia speciosa Barcelona and Fernando

In 2002 a Rafflesia was seen blooming on the island of Panay, Antique province, Sibalom Natural Park (SNP) near the town of Sibalom. Sightings were also been reported in the adjacent town of San Remegio (also in Antique province) and nearby barangays at the Antique-Iloilo border. Up to this point in time, two species of Rafflesia had been described from the Philippine islands: R. manillana from the island of Leyte (Basey) with extant populations only on Luzon (Mt. Makiling) and R. schadenbergiana from Mindanao (Mt. Apo). The latter species had not been seen since 1882 when it was first collected (Hieronymus s.n.). The plant was described by Göppert in 1885 whereas R. manillana was named by Teschemacher in 1842. These two species are easily distiguished from each other: R. manillana has a flower 15-20 cm in diameter (the smallest of all Rafflesia species) whereas the flower of R. schadenbergiana is one of the largest (up to 80 cm wide). On March 15, 2002, I was contacted by Mr. Albert T. Mamora Jr., a biology graduate who now writes for a weekly newspaper in the province of Antique. He asked how one could identify the Philippine species of Rafflesia and suggested that the flower he was seeing was a new species. A series of correspondences ensued, and eventually I was directed to contact Dr. Julie Barcelona, a Botanist with the Philippine National Herbarium (PNH), National Museum of the Philippines in Manila. As it turns out, Julie, along with Dr. Edwino S. Fernando, was already involved in naming this new species of Rafflesia! The discovery of this plant caused quite a sensation in the SNP where it was found. Many tourists visited the site and the event was covered by the local newspapers and television stations. The plant was first discovered by members of The Antique Outdoors (TAO), a conservation group in the province of Antique, Panay Island. Although the SNP is protected, Julie is working hard to ensure that additional sites where the plant was found are also protected. Presented below are some photographs, taken by Albert Mamora, Julie Barcelona and members of TAO.