ABSTRACT
Medicinal plants are the roots of medical practice. Of the 12,807 species used in traditional Chinese medicine, for example, 11,146 are plant species (Zhao, 2004). Medicinal plant uses range from anti-microbial ‘chewing sticks’ for dental care and the treatment of internal parasites to symbolic uses. In fact, of the global total of 422,000 flowering plant species, more than 50,000 are used for medicinal purposes, with an estimated 2500 species of medicinal and aromatic plants traded worldwide, most still collected from wild sources (Schippmann et al, 2003).
