A new species of Rafflesia (Rafflesiaceae) from Luzon Island, Philippines, Rafflesia consueloae Galindon, Ong & Fernando, is described and illustrated. It is distinct from all other species of Rafflesia in its small-sized flowers, the upright perigone lobes, and prominently cream-white disk surface that is often devoid of processes. Its small-sized flowers, with an average diameter of 9.73 cm when fully expanded, make it the smallest of the largest flowers in the world.

Flower and fruit development of Rafflesia consueloae were studied between February 2014 and April 2016 in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. Flower development was divided into five distinct phases: (1) emergence, (2) post-emergence, (3) bract, (4) perigone, and (5) anthesis. Fruit development was monitored from flower senescence until fruiting and maturation. A total of 512 individual buds were monitored – discovered at different stages of bud development. Only nine buds were monitored from post-emergence until the perigone phase. A bloom rate of 19.73% and an overall mortality rate of 77.34% were recorded. Mortality was highest during the early phases (post-emergence and bract) and lowest at the perigone phase. R. consueloae exhibited nocturnal flowering; wherein anthesis usually begins at dusk, signaled by the detachment of the first lobe, and from there on, full bloom took 15 ± 5.85 h to complete. Flowering was at its highest during the coldest and driest months of the year – between December and April. The growth rate is exponential, with an overall diameter growth of 1.80% every 4 d. The highest growth rate was recorded during the perigone phase. Six fruits, considered as dehiscent berries, ripened mostly in July – within 145 ± 11.03 d from anthesis.

The Philippines is both a megadiversity country and a global biodiversity hotspot. The diversity patterns of three major plant groups were assessed: (1) trees (trees and palms), (2) herbs (grasses, shrubs, forbs, ferns), and (3) epiphytes (climbers and epiphytes), by determining the changes in compositional and species richness patterns in two forest conditions, i.e., remnant forests and exotic tree species‐based reforested areas, in active forest over limestone quarries in the Luzon and Mindanao biogeographic sub‐regions of the Philippines. We identified 458 species comprising 266 tree species, 95 herbaceous species and 97 epiphyte species. Of these, 21 species were categorized as threatened species. Species composition differed between remnant forests and exotic tree species‐based reforested areas for tree species and epiphyte species, while composition differences between the Luzon and Mindanao biogeographic sub‐regions were limited to tree species only. Differences in species diversity (in terms of richness) were observed between biogeographic sub‐regions for all plant groups, while differences between forest conditions were found for tree and epiphyte species only. Interestingly, there were significantly fewer numbers of exotic species in bigger remnant forest sites and in older exotic tree species‐based reforested sites, while larger numbers of native species occurred in older than in younger exotic tree species‐based reforested sites. The results emphasize the importance of understanding forest recovery in disturbed ecosystems. Conservation attention should focus on protecting remaining forests and planting native species as part of a forest restoration strategy to enhance faster forest recovery and re‐connecting remnant forest patches.

A new mistletoe species, Amylotheca cleofei, from Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary, Davao Oriental in the southern Philippines, is herein described and illustrated, representing a new species and genus record for the country. This species differs from other known Amylotheca species in terms of its distinctive reproductive and vegetative characters.

A new species, Dilochia deleoniae Tandang & Galindon (Orchidaceae), from Mindanao Island, Philippines is described and illustrated herein. This species is distinct from other known Philippine Dilochia species by its terrestrial habit and is distinguished from all known Dilochia species by its monopodial inflorescence, rarely branching in two, and a pale yellow to dull orange or brownish-yellow labellum devoid of purple spots.