The Medical Plant Resources in Baotianman, Henan Province and the Conservation Strategies

One thousand and fifty eight species of medical plants belonging to 471 genera and 132 families were found in Baotianman,Henan Province. Of which 15 families such as Rosaceae, Compositae, Liliaceae, Ranunculaceae, etc. occupied 38 % of the total, 18 genera including Artemisia, Polygonum, etc. made up 20.6%. The plants using rhizomes as medical materials accounted for 28.6% of the total, the ratio of the species living in forests was 43.8% of the total. The results showed that the richness of Chinese medical plant resources was high in this area, forests were the resource pool of medical plants. To protect and utilize the medical plants properly, four aspects should be emphasized:(1) Law-making and law-executing should be strengthened about the collection, utilization and commerce of the wild biological resources. (2) Science research about medical plants should be strengthened.(3) Arboretum of medical plants should be built.(4) Breeding bases about the high value medical plants should be established.