Dr. Rosario R. Rubite, professor and university scientist at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Arts and Sciences, will be among the featured speakers at the Horti Filipina International Plant Show 2025, which will be staged at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City from Feb. 21 to Feb. 23.
Rubite holds the distinction of being the only specialist on the plant Begonia in the country, and has received recognition as Outstanding Researcher at UP’s 2017 Grand Chancellor Awards.
She will be focusing on the unique Begonias of the Philippines when she graces the Horti-Filipina plant show on Feb. 22.
Begonia is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Begoniacea, which contains more than 2,000 different plant species.
According to a feature story published on the UP Manila College of Arts and Sciences website, Rubite’s interest on Begonia started with her Ph.D. dissertation for which she wanted to focus on “something interesting and identifiable under certain factors”.
“Thus, she was led to Begonia. Of course, the process still wasn’t easy. Being a full-time teacher at the time of starting the research, her time allotted for her fieldworks at primary forests was limited to in between summer breaks, a period wherein Begonia does not bloom,” the feature story noted.
But these were not enough to discourage Rubite from pursuing Begonia as the main study for her dissertation as she acknowledged it as a “widely loved ornamental plant that currently has various taxonomic problems”.
Rubite’s career would further flourish when, in 2015, at the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, she and three other scientists discovered three new species, namely, the B. taraw, B. hughesii and B. tagbanua.
Another paper published in 2018 added five more new species from other municipalities of Palawan. These were the B. elnidoensis, B. gironellae, B. quinquealata, tabonensis and B. tenuibracteata.
The UP Manila story acknowledged that Rubite’s data on “Philippine begonias generated not only morphological but included molecular evidences for the recircumscription of Begonia section Baryandra”.
From 40 species, there are now a total of 73 species which belong to this section, of which 64 species are endemic to the Philippines declaring the country as center of diversity.
Rubite has contributed much in the field of research.
And to date, she has written 26 publications, and has discovered and named 25 new species of Begonia. This dedication to her field brought about a species named in honor of her – the Begonia rubiteae, discovered at Mabentagen Water District, Busuanga, Palawan. This was named by collaborator Dr. Mark Hughes of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland.
“Prof. Rubite would always inform the local people of the significance of her work. By showing them the Begonia that grows only in their own place, local folks will realize that the Begonia is not only ornamental but an indicator of the status and health of their forest as Begonia prefers deeply shaded and moist habitat,” the UP Manila College of Arts and Sciences said.