Leonardo Legaspi Co (December 29, 1953 in Manila – November 15, 2010 in Kananga, Leyte[1]) was a Filipino botanist and plant taxonomist[2] who was considered the "foremost authority in ethnobotany in the Philippines" during his lifetime.
[4] Dr. Perry Ong, director of the Institute of Biology at the University of the Philippines Diliman summed it up at Co's wake by saying “Leonard Co entered UP as botany freshman in the early 70s and never left.”[5] While practicing acupuncture he met his wife Glenda Flores, whom he married on June 12, 1990.
[4] In accordance to his wishes, a third of his ashes was scattered in the 16-hectare forest dynamics plot he built and worked on in Palanan, Isabela, up in the Sierra Madre Mountains.
[4] On May 2, 2011, Co was posthumously conferred the National Academy of Science and Technology's Hugh Greenwood Environmental Award for his contribution in profiling forest biodiversity.
[17] On Co's death anniversary on November 15, 2023, the Leonard Co Ethnobotanical Garden was inaugurated at the Northwestern University to honor Co's contribution to Philippine botany.