“Rafflesia speciosa”
Rafflesia species are parasitic plants and hold the recognition as the largest flower in the world. Rafflesia speciosa is one of the 13 species of Rafflesia found in the Philippines. It was discovered in the mountains of Sibalom Natural Park in Antique, Panay in 2002. This medium-sized Rafflesia is known to occur only in the island of Panay where it thrives in lowland secondary forest patches, in dry areas under thick leaf litter. It is locally known as uruy and karay-a (Panay). The flowers of R. speciosa take about 18 hours to expand fully and last up to 3-5 days. It was adopted as the symbol of Simbalom Natural Park and the municipality of Sibalom in Antique, Panay, the populations of this new species are currently categorized as Endangered as their habitat is threatened by slash-and-burn agriculture.