Researchers looking for snail habitats in a Rizal limestone forest found a plant that had been missing from reliable scientific records for more than a century.
On December 8, 2023, a team from UP Diliman and Philippine Normal University documented Exacum loheri around the “600 Steps” area of Masungi Georeserve. The previous known collections dated to 1895.
The team initially identified the small plant as an Exacum. Literature and digital herbarium research helped confirm the species, according to their Philippine Journal of Science research note.
Their work produced the first published photographs of the species alive. The study appeared in the journal’s October 2025 issue.
The researchers described the vicinity of Masungi as supporting the only known located intact population at the time of their report. That is a statement about what had been documented; another population could still be found.
The discovery began during fieldwork focused on snails. Careful observation of the surrounding habitat gave the team an unexpected botanical record, too.
