KOTA KINABALU: A rare species of the Rafflesia parasitic flowering plant called the Rafflesia keithii has been found in the Silabukan forest reserve, some 50km east of Sabah’s eastern Lahad Datu district.

A 14-member team from the state Forestry Department was conducting forest inventory when they stumbled upon the plant in full bloom recently.

“The spectacular bloom in Silabukan measured 47cm in diameter and was growing on volcanic soil at an altitude of 630m.

“An unopened Rafflesia bud was also observed next to the open flower while another bud was found some 20m away,” the department said in a statement.

Endemic to Borneo, the Rafflesia keithii is the largest of three species of Rafflesia found in Sabah.

“This new discovery is considered rare and exciting because the species has never been recorded this far east of Sabah,” said Dr Joan Pereira, a senior botanist at the Forest Research Centre in Sandakan.

According to the Sabah Forestry Department, the easternmost record of Rafflesia in Sabah was a lone discovery at the Danum Valley Conservation Area.

“Botanical records show the Rafflesia keithii occurring primarily on the west coast of Sabah such as along the Crocker Range as well in Tambunan, Kota Marudu and the Ranau districts including in Kinabalu Park, at altitudes ranging from 250m to 940m,” it said.

The team from the department was carrying out inventory on the Silabukan Forest Reserve when it made the discovery.

The forest inventory was part of a collaboration with WWF-Malaysia to establish a land cover monitoring system for the larger Tabin landscape, covering about 450,000ha.

Chief conservator of forests Datuk Frederick Kugan said apart from providing information on floristic composition and soils, the department also expected to produce a high-resolution carbon stock map for the Tabin landscape as an output of the inventory.

Kugan congratulated the field team for the interesting find, saying that it highlights the importance of the Silabukan forest reserve as a Class I Protection Forest.