A critical review of the taxonomic status of Rafflesia philippensis blanco (Rafflesiaceae) from the Philippines

• Main Authors: Agoo, Esperanza Maribel G., Madulid, Domingo A.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2015
• Subjects: Rafflesiaceae > Philippines; Rafflesia; Botany
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/9876
• Institution: De La Salle University

An appraisal of the protologue of Rafflesia philippensis shows that it is based on collections from two places, i.e. ‘Monte de Majayjay’ in Mt. Banahaw and Basey, Samar made by two different individuals at different times. The protologue is brief, incomplete, vague and replete with errors that make it impossible to visualize the appearance of the species. There are no preserved specimens (holotypes) of these collections. The portion of the protologue that describes the flowers from Basey, Samar matches R. manillana described earlier from the same site. The flowers described from ‘Monte de Majayjay’ cannot be discerned because of the brief and faulty description. Being a mixture of two separate and different collections representing two distinct taxa, R. philippensis is thus an invalid name and an erroneously described species. The proposal to resurrect R. philippensis as the correct name for the species found in Kinabuhayan, Dolores, Quezon, replacing R. banahawensis is erroneous. R. banahawensis is, therefore, the correct name of the species in Mt. Banahaw.