Be careful of breaking the law! What you bought may be a national second-level protected plant

"Giant pandas, golden monkeys, black-necked cranes..." Whenever we talk about protecting animals, we can easily name a long list, but what if we change it to plants? In fact, the survival conditions of many wild plants are also very difficult and need our more attention .

In 2021, the entire genus of Glechoma longituba was included in the "National Key Protected Wild Plants List". Although the wild resources of Glechoma longituba are protected by law, the price of Glechoma longituba has remained high in recent years. Driven by huge profits, illegal harvesting is still rampant .

What is the garlic orchid and what can we do to protect it?

1

Is there any relationship between garlic and garlic?

Pleione D. Don belongs to the Orchidaceae family, Epidendroideae subfamily, Arethuseae Lindl., Coelogyninae Benth. subtribe.

There are about 20 species of the genus Glechoma in the world, mainly distributed in China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. Except for the crown Glechoma, all other species are distributed in China. The southwestern mountains of China are the modern distribution center of Glechoma, and Yunnan is the place with the most adaptive radiation .

Is the garlic orchid garlic? Can it be eaten?

I can only say that your idea is very "punishing".

The garlic orchid is not garlic, but an orchid. It has this very down-to-earth name because of its unique pseudobulb structure, which does look somewhat similar to garlic.

Pseudobulb of garlic orchid, Image source: Zhang Wei, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences

The pseudobulb of the garlic orchid is an important place for storing water and substances, and it has the characteristics of winter dormancy , which can help the garlic orchid survive the dry winter. In April and May every year (except for the autumn flowering type), a beautiful little flower grows from the bottom of the bud on the side of the pseudobulb, and then new roots begin to grow slowly, and leaves begin to form (and most of them only grow a lonely leaf), and thus a brand new plant is born.

As the leaves grow slowly, the base of the buds gradually swells to form new pseudobulbs, and the old pseudobulbs gradually dry up and shrink. This cycle repeats itself, with each new bud being renewed every year, and it reproduces like this from generation to generation .

Life history of the brilliant-flowered garlic orchid, Image source: (Zhang et al., 2022)

In recent years, the market demand for P. bulbocodioides and P. yunnanensis has increased year by year, while the immature artificial cultivation technology has caused their market prices to soar, and wild germplasm resources have been severely damaged .

The National Forestry and Grassland Administration promulgated the "National Key Protected Wild Plants List" in September 2021, in which all genera of the genus Solanum were listed as national second-level protected plants .

2

It's too hard to grow up if you pull too hard

The main reason why the garlic orchid is listed as a second-level protected plant is that it has been "plucked" too hard by people and artificial digging is too serious, resulting in the almost extinction of wild resources .

However, it is not without problems. As a sexually reproduced seed, the garlic orchid has no endosperm and is as fine as dust, and its germination rate is extremely low under natural conditions .

Dust-like seeds of the orchid. Image source: Hu Zhonghui, engineer at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences

On the other hand, the garlic orchid mainly grows on moss-covered stone wall surfaces or tree trunks. The growing environment is very harsh and it is easily damaged by humans . Once damaged, it is difficult to recover.

The seeds of the garlic orchid are difficult to germinate and the suitable habitat is narrow, making artificial cultivation extremely difficult, which further aggravates human collection.

Habitat of the genus Dioscorea. Image credit: Zhang Wei, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences

3

What other plants are prohibited from being picked?

Although the garlic orchid is protected by law, due to the high price of the orchid in recent years and the huge profits, some people still take risks and pick wild garlic orchids in Dali, Lijiang, Kunming and other places in Yunnan despite repeated bans.

Trading situation of the garlic orchid, image source: Hu Zhonghui, engineer of the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences

In addition to the garlic orchid, there are 455 species and 40 categories of national key protected wild plants listed in the "List of National Key Protected Wild Plants", including 54 species and 4 categories of national first-class protected wild plants, and 401 species and 36 categories of national second-class protected wild plants.

Plants like Ginkgo and Yew , which we are very familiar with, have been listed as key protected plants because of their extremely high medicinal value, which have been destroyed by human beings and are difficult to grow and reproduce under natural conditions. It is illegal to harvest their wild resources.

4

Lend a helping hand to the garlic orchid

How can we protect the garlic orchid while meeting actual needs?

Scientists believe that to protect wild plants, it is necessary to properly resolve the relationship between protection and utilization, with protection given priority and rational utilization.

Artificial propagation and large-scale planting of Solanum sibiricum, Image source: Zhang Wei, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Some of the new varieties of Orchidaceae cultivated, Image source: Zhang Wei, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences

At present, scientists from the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, have used the Solanum sibiricum as experimental material and cultivated 19 new ornamental varieties through hybrid breeding. They have also established a key technology system for the factory-based seedling breeding technology and industrialized cultivation of the Solanum sibiricum.

For the garlic orchid, the industrial research and development chain from planting resource protection, variety innovation to key technology research and demonstration application has been fully connected, truly realizing the virtuous development goal of utilizing while protecting and protecting while utilizing .

One day in the future, it may become a common plant in our homes.

Source: This article is produced by Science Popularization China, produced by Hu Zhonghui, and supervised by China Science Popularization Expo

This article has been authorized. Please contact the original author for reprinting.