Orchids are one of the largest plant families and are commercially traded for a variety of purposes, including as ornamental plants, medicinal products and food. These markets involve thousands of species, which may be traded legally or illegally, sustainably or unsustainably, and take place at local, national or international scales. In this review, we provide the first overview of commercial orchid trade globally and highlight the main types that involve wild-collected plants. Much of this trade is the result of illegal harvest meaning that it is little documented and is absent from official statistics, at the same time as being of growing conservation concern. We discuss the associated legal–regulatory context, identify key conservation challenges and highlight four key priorities for addressing these challenges. These are to (1) research trade dynamics and the impacts of harvest; (2) strengthen the legal trade of orchids; (3) adopt measures to reduce illegal trade; and (4) raise the profile of orchid trade among policy makers, conservationists and the public.

Little is known about levels and patterns of genetic diversity for the entire range of endangered orchids native to China, Korea, and Japan. In this study, we focus on Cypripedium japonicum and suggest three hypotheses: 1) that genetic drift has been a primary evolutionary force; 2) that populations in central and western China harbor higher levels of genetic variation relative to those from eastern China; and 3) that C. japonicum in China maintains the highest genetic variation among the three countries. Using ISSR and SCoT markers, we investigated genetic diversity in 17 populations to test the three hypotheses. As anticipated, we found low levels of genetic diversity at the species level with substantially high degree of genetic divergence, which can be mainly attributed to random genetic drift. Chinese populations harbor the highest within-population genetic variation, which tends to increase from east to west. We also found a close relationship between Korean populations and central/western Chinese populations. Historical rarity coupled with limited gene flow seems to be important factors for shaping genetic diversity and structure of C. japonicum. Our results indicate that the mountain areas in central and western China were likely refugia at the Last Glacial Maximum.

Thismia nigricoronata is described as a new species in family Burmanniaceae. Both morphological and phylogenetic analyses indicate that this new Lao endemic is allied to T. taiwanensis in section Glaziocharis, and it can be differentiated on the basis of its longer vestigial stem leaves, reflexed free outer perianth lobes and ornamented, vibrantly coloured outer surface of the perianth tube. The infrageneric taxonomy of Thismia is reviewed, the genera Geomitra and Scaphiophora are officially reduced to sectional status in Thismia, and all species are enumerated in systematic order. A key to all currently accepted subgenera, sections and subsections is presented to facilitate further examination of their phylogenetic integrity in light of apparent conflict between the traditional morphology-based system and the emerging DNA-based classification.

With limited resources for curtailing the escalating biodiversity crisis, a rational means of setting priorities among threatened species is of pre-eminent concern. Combining phylogenetic history and conservation status to estimate the evolutionary distinctiveness that would be lost in the event of a given species becoming extinct has gained momentum in analyses of animal taxa, but has not previously been attempted for plants. Focusing on the heavily impacted Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot, we examine the utility of various phylogenetic metrics in prioritizing members of Orchidaceae, the largest family in the eco-region. Reconstructing a time-calibrated phylogenetic tree for 592 of the known 2170 species in the region reveals Thailand, South China and Vietnam as the areas harbouring the highest phylogenetic diversity and Tropidia curculigoides, Thaia saprophytica and Risleya atropurpurea as accounting for disproportionately great evolutionary distinctiveness. Although patchy, integrating global and national Red List data justifies several priorities, particularly in the intensively poached genera Paphiopedilum and Dendrobium. Addressing biases in the phylogenetic and conservation status data sets requires that botanical gardens in the region accession under-represented taxa and that citizen scientists and professional researchers contribute more fully to Red Lists. Governments are urged to step-up protection of habitats highlighted as cradles of exceptional orchid diversity.

A molecular phylogeny of Asiatic species of Goodyera (Orchidaceae, Cranichideae, Goodyerinae) based on the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and two chloroplast loci (matK and trnL-F) was presented. Thirty-five species represented by 132 samples of Goodyera were analyzed, along with other 27 genera/48 species, using Pterostylis longifolia and Chloraea gaudichaudii as outgroups. Bayesian inference, maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood methods were used to reveal the intrageneric relationships of Goodyera and its intergeneric relationships to related genera. The results indicate that: 1) Goodyera is not monophyletic; 2) Goodyera could be divided into four sections, viz., Goodyera, Otosepalum, Reticulum and a new section; 3) sect. Reticulum can be further divided into two subsections, viz., Reticulum and Foliosum, whereas sect. Goodyera can in turn be divided into subsections Goodyera and a new subsection.