In the Caraballo Mountains of the Philippines grows a modest shrub that the local Bugkalot people have long called "kelli" and used to treat dogs. Modern botany only recently recognized it as a separate species and gave it the scientific name Clerodendrum kelli.
The plant reaches a meter in height; its leaves are green on top and pale violet beneath. Its white tubular flowers with a pinkish-red base are gathered into loose racemes rather than the dense inflorescences of many of its relatives. It is found only in two spots of moist mountain forest in the Pantabangan-Carrangalan reserve — on Mount Meddengen and in Sitio Binbin.
For centuries the Bugkalot have known the properties of "kelli": the leaves are crushed and added to the feed of sick dogs. Yet this traditional use has not led to the plant's disappearance. The main threat is deforestation for agriculture and landslides on the steep slopes where the shrub prefers to grow.
Today the range of Clerodendrum kelli has shrunk to eight square kilometers. The species has already been classified as "critically endangered." Researchers from Ateneo de Manila University, together with colleagues, described the new species in December 2025 of the year in the journal Gardens' Bulletin Singapore.
The discovery shows how indigenous knowledge and formal science can complement each other. Where local people have for centuries noticed the plant's useful properties, scientists now see a vulnerable element of the mountain ecosystem that requires special protection.
Without stronger measures to conserve the slopes and limit land conversion, Clerodendrum kelli risks disappearing before it can be studied more deeply. It is a reminder that many species remain invisible to science until they vanish along with their familiar habitat.
