Samar Island is a center of botanical wealth throughout the Philippine archipelago. However, floristic knowledge of the island is deficient and most of its forested areas remain largely unexplored. Thus, floristic surveys of Rubiaceae members were made on Eastern Samar, located in Visayas, Philippines. Collections were conducted from June 2013 to June 2017 within 5 municipalities: Borongan, Balangkayan, Taft, Guiuan, and Llorente. In total, 59 species belonging to 31 genera representing 21 tribes of the family were recorded. The most species-rich tribes belong to Naucleeae, Psychotrieae, and Spermacoceae, with 10, 8, and 6 species, respectively. Of the 59 species recorded, 37 are endemic to the Philippines. Twelve species are listed as threatened species based on its proposed IUCN category and DAO 2017-11. This study presents an enumeration of Rubiaceae found on selected forested areas of Eastern Samar, Philippines.

Despite the notable plant biodiversity of the Philippines, the country still exhibits increasing anthropogenic activities in many forests of the archipelago that pose a threat to many floral species of the country. Hence, to test the hypothesis that there are differences in plant distributions and diversity between disturbed and undisturbed tropical forest patches, a rapid floristic assessment in Malinao, Aklan was conducted. A total of 106 species were sampled in both sites, with 68 present in the disturbed site, 53 present in the undisturbed site, and 12 present in both. Rarefied species accumulation curves and calculations of Shannon-Wiener Index (H) showed higher species richness and evenness in the undisturbed forest. Analysis of the similarities in species composition using the nonmetric dimensional scaling combined with the statistical test PERMANOVA showed clear significant difference between the two forest categories. In addition, one species (Artocarpus blancoi (Elmer) Merr.) that is classified as "Vulnerable" according to the IUCN was noted. Thus, standard calls for the establishment of priority areas for forest conservation in the country are recommended.

Timonius eremiticus, a new species from Mount Pulgar, Palawan Island, the Philippines, is here described and illustrated. It is morphologically close to T. flavescens but is characterized by membranous to chartaceous leaves with 2–4 pairs of lateral nerves, ivory-white corolla, bracteate staminate inflorescences bearing bracteolate flowers, 5-petaled pistillate flowers, (sub)globose fruits that are round and not 4-angled, and pyrenes being obliquely radiated in cross-section of fruits. Timonius eremiticus is assessed as Critically Endangered following IUCN criteria. (Wikang Filipino)   Inilarawan at iginuhit sa lathalaing ito ang Timonius eremiticus na isang bagong espesye ng halaman na matatagapuan sa Bundok Pulgar sa pulo ng Palawan sa Pilipinas. Ito ay kawangis ng T. flavescens subalit natatangi dahil sa mga malalamad o malapapel nitong mga dahon na may dalawa o hanggang apat na pares ng nerbiyong lateral, kulay garing na mga talulot, brakteadong istaminate na mga inflorescence at bulaklak, mga pistiladong bulaklak na may limang talulot, (mala)bilugang mga bunga na hindi nakalundo sa apat, at mga pyrene na oblikong naka-radiate sa pahalang na hati ng mga bunga. Ang Timonius eremiticus ay itinataya rin na lubos nang nanganganib na maubos alinsunod sa mga pamantayan ng IUCN.

No abstract