2019 – Philippine Popular Flowers – Everlasting (Copy)

The Philippine Postal Corporation issues stamps featuring Popular Flowers of the Philippines – the rafflesia.

The genus Rafflesia includes 28 species of parasitic flowering plants scattered exclusively throughout Southeast Asia. Rafflesia are found in the Philippines, in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. These plants emit an odor akin to rotting flesh to attract its prey. These prey include insects such as flies, which aid in pollination.

In the Philippines, samples of the genus can be found mostly in certain areas of Luzon, select areas of Panay, Cotabato, and Davao. Rafflesia consueloae, the newest discovered Rafflesia species in the Philippines, is the smallest rafflesia to date. R. leonardi meanwhile is named after a notable botanist and author, the late Leonardo L. Co. Other representatives of the species endemic to the Philippines are R. manillana, R. philippinensis, R. speciosa, R. lobata, R. schadenbergiana, R. verrucosa, and R. mira – also known as R. magnifica.