Selection of potential plant species for cosmetic application should be based on ethnobotanical knowledge or scientific research demonstrating beneficial properties. The safety of the plant and the therapeutic constituent in question also needs to be investigated. Once you have determined what type of benefits or claims you are looking for from a botanical extract and which plants could provide the desired effects, you should investigate if any of the plants in question are threatened or endangered species. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora Web site is an excellent resource for this type of information (www. cites. org). If the selected plant has no issues in this area, is it being produced in a fashion that will permit sustained harvesting and is it available in the quantities necessary to support your needs?
Wildcrafting, collecting plants from the wild for commercial uses, has been known to devastate species, or at least a local population of plants, and has led to certain species becoming threatened or endangered. Surprisingly, many plant species used in herbal medicines and extracts are still being collected from the wild (3). Many medicinal plants are disappearing at an alarming rate due to rapid agricultural and urban development, uncontrolled deforestation, and indiscriminate collection. Ornamental species, including native orchids, are under these pressures as well. According to the World Conservation Unit Red List of Threatened Plants, 12.5% (or 34,000 plant species) of vascular plants alone are at risk of extinction (4). Even in North America plants such as ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) and goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) have been notably reduced due to over-harvesting (5). Limonium wrightii H., a plant used in traditional Chinese medicine, is no longer found growing wild in Taiwan. In order to meet commercial demands, this plant is now farm grown (3).
