Forty to 50 percent of all medicinal drugs originate in wild plants. In fact 25 percent of all prescriptions written annually in the United States contain chemicals from plants. In spite of the technological and medical advances, only 2 percent of the world's plant species have been analyzed even for one group of plant chemicals, the alkaloids. Many more such drugs remain to be found. Any one could be as useful as vincristine, derived from the Madagascar periwinkle, which has increased the survival rate of children with leukemia from 20 percent to 80 percent.
Most plants remain untested for their medical potential.
Another extremely promising anti-cancer drug is taxol, derived from Pacific yew which has worked against a broad range of cancers. Plants are also the real source of the animal products we consume such as beef, milk, and fish. Native plants have great untapped potential as sources of improved genetic traits such as disease resistance and drought tolerance. Plants are immensely important for the consumer goods they provide. Fibers from plants provide clothing.