Redempto Anda Inquirer Southern Luzon 17 Dec 10;
Filed Under: Natural Sciences, Philippines - Regions
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Philippines—Scientists have discovered a new species of pitcher plant in central Palawan and are naming it after noted Filipino botanist Leonardo Co who was killed last November 10 in what the Philippine military claimed as crossfire between government security forces and an insurgent group.
The pitcher plant species, believed by its discoverers to be the only one of its kind in the world, is distinguished by its unusual dark strains and enlarged traps, said the newest post on the scientists' website Redfern Natural History Productions.
It was collected by scientists Greg Bourke, Mark Jaunzem, Jehson Cervancia and Stewart McPherson last November 10 in an area of the Victoria-Anipahan Range in the central region of Palawan island where other new species of the carnivorous plant have been discovered.
"This magnificent new plant is closely related to N. mira/N. deaniana/N. gantungensis, but has distinctive pitcher morphology, and uniquely among Palawan Nepenthes that it can produce pitchers that are extremely dark, almost black,” the biologists said on the website.
They added that the black strains were not typical overall but made the plant very interesting.
“The pitcher structure is also distinctive, and the traps get up to at least 25 centimeters or so tall," they said.
Co, who had extensively studied and documented the biodiversity of Palawan, had earlier discovered a suspected new species of orchid distinguished by its golden lip petals in the high elevations of Mt. Mantalingahan south of the Anipahan range.
Co was killed along with two co-workers, Julio Borromeo and Sofronio Cortez, last November 15 in Leyte while doing field work during what the military claimed was an encounter between government and rebel groups.
Co was killed around the same time the Palawan scientific expedition was being held.
"It seems a sad irony that this black pitcher plant was found so soon after he died. Permits are currently being sought to name this beautiful plant in his honor," said the scientists.
The discovery of the black colored pitcher plant came on the heels of the discovery in 2007 in the same site by another group of scientists, including Mc Pherson, of one of the largest pitcher plants in the world--the Nepenthes attenboroughii.
