ABSTRACT
Economic mapping of the spontaneous medicinal flora is defined as identification, notation, and transposition of conventional signs onto topographical maps of the quantities of raw material of one or several medicinal species recommended to be harvested in a certain area. Scientifically, economic mapping of spontaneous flora helps researchers achieve a better phyto-sociological and phyto-geographical understanding of the respective zones and a better delimitation of areas suited to growing specific species. The object of economic mapping in medicinal plants is to identify quantitatively and qualitatively the natural resources of a certain area with a view to rationally rendering its economic potential profitable by organizing collecting, drying, and conditioning centers and by establishing pharmaceutical industrial units for the extraction of action substances. To reiterate, one of the main aims of economic mapping is to maintain a favorable balance between exploitation and protection of plants and the environment.
