Rafflesia schadenbergiana

Rafflesia schadenbergiana is a parasitic plant species in the family Rafflesiaceae, endemic to the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. It has the largest flower among the Rafflesia species found in the Philippines, with a diameter of 52–80 cm (20–30 in).^[1][2] It has also the second largest flower in the genus after R. arnoldii.

Rafflesia schadenbergiana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Malpighiales
Family:	Rafflesiaceae
Genus:	Rafflesia
Species:	R. schadenbergiana
Binomial name
Rafflesia schadenbergiana (Goepp.) Ferreras
Synonyms
Rafflesia apoana Goepp.

Botanical illustration, 1900

This species was first collected in the vicinity of Mount Apo on Mindanao, during an expedition led by Alexander Schadenberg [de] and Otto Koch in 1882.^[2] It was not seen for more than a century and was assumed to be extinct^[3] until Pascal Lays found a specimen of this species in South Cotabato in 1994 while studying the Tasaday people.^[4] A population of this rare Rafflesia species was recently discovered in Baungon in Bukidnon province, just outside the buffer zone of the Mount Kitanglad Natural Park in 2007.^{[1][5][note 1]}

Notes

1. For more information about the remarkable species, see the review in the following citation: Barcelona, et al. "Taxonomy, ecology, and conservation status of Philippine Rafflesia (Rafflesiaceae)" Blumea. 54:77-94. doi:10.3767/000651909X474122.^[6]