Angiosperms New Species

There are approximately 2,000 species of plants being discovered each year worldwide. Discovery is the first crucial step in plant conservation. The data gathered from describing a species helps in determining its conservation status and survival. The Philippines, despite being one of the hottest of the hotspots for diverse and threatened life on Earth, are still discovering new species in every botanical exploration of the country’s rainforests. Some of the newly discovered species in the country which are currently in our collection belong to the families of Balanophoraceae, Begoniaceae, Moraceae, Nepenthaceae, and Rubiaceae of the angiosperms (flowering plants). 

It is still unknown as to how many exact plant species currently exist in the world. A lot of botanists have speculated around 450,000 plant species, however, according to botanist George Yatskievych of the University of Texas, the real question isn’t how long will it take for botanists to find the rest of the undiscovered plant species, but how much time is left to discover these species before they go extinct. 

Here are some of the new species of flowering plants described by researchers of the Botany and National Herbarium Division in collaboration with other scientific institutions:

Begonia tandangii, Mycetia suedixieana, Begonia titoevangelistae, Balanophora coralliformis, Ixora alejandroi, Nepenthes barcelonae, Sloetia elongata, Amylotheca cleofei, Hypericum perryongi, Begonia benitotanii, Begonia truncatifolia, Begonia beijenenii, Begonia cabanillasii,Dilochia deleoniae, Corybas boholensis, Corybas circinatus