Plant Resources

More than 10,000 species of flowering plants and ferns grow in the Philippines. Among the most famous of our flower-bearing plants are the sampaguita, cadena de amor, jasmin, calachuchi, (frangipani), gumamela (hibiscus), ilang-ilang, rose, and aurora. About 1,000 species of orchids bloom in the Philippines, many of them exquisitely beautiful and not to be found anywhere else in the world. The most famous of Philippine orchids is the waling-waling (Vanda sanderana), discovered in Davao by a German collector.

Numerous kinds of fruit-bearing trees, vegetables, and medicinal plants thrive in the archipelago as well.The best-like Philippine fruits are lansones, mangoes, duhat, durian, santol, atis (sweetsop), caimito or star apple guava, papaya, and tamarind.