The Unique Flower Of The Philippines

Philippines is one of the many Asian countries known for its rare species of flowers. One example is the ylang-ylang Philippine flowers. The ylang-ylang flowers are known for their scents, which is why its usually used for several highly scented applications such as in perfumes as well as aroma therapy. However, the ylang-ylang flower is also a native flower of Indonesia which is commonly grown in Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.

Other than the ylang-ylang flower, there is yet another species of philippine flowers unique to the Philippines. This is the waling-waling flower. The waling-waling is one of the many species of orchids, but what makes this flower very special, particularly among the Filipinos, is that this flower can only be found in the Philippines.

A Rare Orchid
Waling-waling, or scientifically known as Euanthe sanderiana, is a species of orchids found in island of Mindanao, particularly in the foothills of Mount Apo in Davao, Cotabato, and Surigao. The flower is also known as Sander's Euanthe, after Henry Frederick Conrad Sander, a noted orchidologist. Known among the locals as the "Queen of philippine flowers", it is sometimes worshiped as a diwata by the native Bagobo people.

It the past, it was known as Vanda sanderiana, however it was changed to Euanthe sanderiana mainly because there are currently two forms of waling-waling, the pink one and the white one. Rudolf Schlechter separated Euanthe from Vanda in 1914 due to structural differences in the flowers. For breeding purposes and registration by the Royal Horticultural Society, however, it is still treated as a Vanda.

Its rarity was also the reason for its decline, making it one of the most endangered species of philippine flowers. Because of its captivating trait, hunters as well as collectors from around the world led to over-harvesting these species of flowers almost to extinction. The decline was stemmed, however, when tissue culture was performed in order to repropagate the orchid.

Because of its rarity across the world, many have stated that this flower should be made the national flower of the Philippines. In 2004, there had been a motion in the House of Representatives of the Philippines to declare the "Waling-waling" as the country's national flower, replacing the Sampaguita.