The trees were discovered by a European marine expert in 1996. Several trees of the species belonging to the Rhizophoraceae family were found in the muddy creeks of the Baler River on Sept. 28 by Jurgenne Honculada Primavera, senior scientist of the aquaculture department of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, and Prof. Wilfredo Licuanan of the University of the Philippines' Marine Science Institute. The previously unrecorded species had trees 2 to 5 meters tall with fluffy white clusters of flowers. The leaves are like small candles and slightly curl at the tip.
Scientists call the rare species as bakawan.
Kandelia candel has been sighted in subtropical mangroves throughout Asia, India, southern Japan, northern Borneo and Brunei. This species lends truth to Aurora's biodiversity,'' said Primavera. It was recorded in the book ''Plants in Mangroves,'' together with over 50 mangrove species in Southeast Asia. It is nowhere found in the Philippines but we have to look hard enough in Palawan,'' Primavera noted. The two scientists and representatives of the Tambuyog Development Center were in Casiguran town for a coastal resource management workshop on Sept. 27-29.