Economic Botany

Threats to Orchids
Orchids are the most threatened flowering plant species on the planet. Orchid species are in peril due to a variety of factors such as overexploitation, illegal trading, land encroachment, and climate change. Habitat erosion, degradation, fragmentation, and illegal collection for commerce and consumption are all threatening medicinal orchids. The majority of these species are classified as highly endangered or rare. Some species, such as Liparis olivacea, have already gone extinct in the wild. The demand for medical orchids outnumbers the supply.
Collection and sale of wild orchids from orchid-rich areas, particularly by rural communities, is a common occurrence; uprooting the entire plant causes the extinction of many species, and provides a large number of such orchids to local and international traders is a common occurrence. The destruction of several economically important plants in alpine meadows has continued as a result of various levels of disturbance, such as the removal of Dactylorhiza hatagirea, a highly valued medicinal orchid from its natural population in the Himalayas, which has been classified as critically endangered. The demand for traditional medicine in Western countries is growing as a result of the recent trend of adopting it.