An amended description of Rafflesia leonardi and a revised key to Philippine Rafflesia (Rafflesiaceae)

Abstract

The taxonomic identity of Rafflesia banaoana from Kalinga Province in northern Luzon (Philippines) and its affinity with R. leonardi of the adjacent Cagayan Province are discussed. Both taxa share a unique combination of morphological characters pertaining to the color and shape of the perigone lobes, their warts, the diaphragm aperture, the size and number of disk processes, and anther number. The only notable difference between R. banaoana and R. leonardi is flower size and characters correlated with size. Because Rafflesia species show large intraspecific variation in flower size, and because R. banaoana and R. leonardi share a number of other morphological features, we conclude that these two taxa are conspecific. The name R. banaoana should therefore be considered a synonym of the earlier name R. leonardi. Here, we present an amended description of R. leonardi. An updated key to all ten known species of Philippine Rafflesia is also provided.