Sagip Sarihay Series features critically endangered species in the Philippines, with weekly posts of alternating plant and animal species, and with the primary aims of awareness and call to action. This series is a project of the SciTech and the VA sections of UST-CSJ. (Note: Weekly order of posting does not reflect actual order of intensity of endangerment. Database reference for selection of species is the IUCN Red List.)

SAGIP SARIHAY #3

Species: Paphiopedilum urbanianum Fowlie (Urban’s Paphiopedilum)

Words by Kat Esposo
Artwork by Mikaela Mesia

A visual representation of Urban’s Paphiopedilum.

Description

The critically endangered Paphiopedilum urbanianum Fowlie or commonly known as the Urban’s Paphiopedilum, is an endemic, terrestrial herb located in between rock pockets in the montane forest of Mount Halcon in Mindoro (Rankou, 2015). This species is distinguished due to its large dorsal sepals and narrow, non-ciliate, marked petals, having a glossy brownish-red or maroon color in its lip and staminode, as well as its broad, lined, dark-green veins (Cribb, 1986). It has an elliptic or oblong-elliptic leaf, with ciliate margins at its base, and a minutely tridenticulate apex (Plants of the World Online, 2012). Ecologically, P. urbanianum prefers moist and moderately shaded habitats, and its leaves function in reducing herbivory, as petals do so too along with attraction of pollinators, though the role of its petals calls for further studies (Rankou, 2015; Zhang et al., 2016).

Locality

This plant species was recorded to be usually seen in Mount Halcon, Mindoro, Philippines.

Threats

Various threats, which mainly involved human activities, have caused the endangerment of this orchid. The on-going destruction of the plant’s habitat via deforestation, illegal logging, and slash-and-burn agriculture has created its continuous decline. The plant is also exploited in both local and international trade for horticulture (Rankou, 2015).

Solutions to Address Endangerment

Although the area of P. urbanianum is not yet officially protected, the local government has teamed up with the Mindoro Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, Inc. to issue an Executive Order in “Creating the Technical Working Group to Formulate the Mt. Halcon Conservation and Protection Plan, Defining its Functions and for Other Purposes,” which initiates frameworks for conservation of the said habitat (Mindoro Biodiversity, 2016). The DENR has also launched a sustainable project for Mt. Halcon, which includes activities such as reforestation sites (BirdLife International, 2021).

References

BirdLife Data Zone. (2021). Birdlife.org. http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/mount-halcon-iba-philippines/text (Accessed on January 9, 2021).

Cribb, P. (1986). PAPHIOPEDILUM URBANIANUM Orchidaceae. Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, 3(3), 102–103. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8748.1986.tb00297.x

Mindoro Biodiversity (2016). Technical Reports, Mindoro Biodiversity, Retrieved from https://site2.mbcfi.org.ph/biodiversity/technical-reports/ (Accessed on January 9, 2021).

Paphiopedilum urbanianum Fowlie in GBIF Secretariat (2019). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei (Accessed on January 9, 2021).

Plants of the World Online (2012). Paphiopedilum urbanianum Fowlie, KewScience, Retrieved from http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:898355-1 (Accessed on January 9, 2021).

Rankou, H. 2015. Paphiopedilum urbanianum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T46349A43319798. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T46349A43319798.en

Zhang, F. P., Huang, J. L., & Zhang, S. B. (2016). Trait evolution in the slipper orchid paphiopedilum (Orchidaceae) in China. Plant signaling & behavior, 11(3), e1149668. https://doi.org/10.1080/15592324.2016.1149668.