One of three newly discovered species of a flowering plant endemic to the area around Mt. Madja-as in Antique province was named after Pope Francis, the Varsitarian of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) has reported.

 

The Varsitarian said the Hedyotis papafranciscoi is “critically endangered” and has flowers that are white with purple calyx lobes.

 

Hedyotis papafranciscoi usually blooms in April and “grows in open places of secondary forest” according to the maiden issue of the UST Graduate School’s The Antoninus Journal, which the Varsitarian cited as its source material.

 

Hedyotis papafrancisco's flowers emerge “in almost every leaf axil, rising directly from the plant’s stems,” the Varsitarian said with its report by Rhenn Anthony S. Taguiam.

 

"[Having flowers in almost every leaf axil] is uncommon in Hedyotis plants," the Varsitarian quoted  Grecebio Jonathan Alejandro, director of graduate studies at the UST.

 

The Varsitarian added that “(d)ue to its exclusivity to the Antique area and the fact that only a small number of plants are left, the new species is classified as a critically endangered.”

 

Alejandro and his students on the discovery team named the two other Hedyotis plants as Hedyotis culasinensis and Hedyotis davaoensis.  — ELR, GMA News