Floral Resources: Figure 4. A plant collector selling medicinal herbs and roots collected from the limestone forests of Mount Emei, China. (Photo by David Gillieson)

Large trees are usually sparse on limestone areas, thus they are of lesser interest to commercial forestry. Local people often harvest firewood and building timber from karst areas. Of more importance is an array of small forest products harvested for traditional medicines (Figure 4), for food (fungi and fruits), for handicrafts such as baskets, and for flowers. Some wild limestone plants, such a slipper orchids in Southeast Asia, are heavily collected and this may lead to local depletion or extinction. Many of these plants are easily cultivated so there is little justification for the practice.