Inventorying medicinal orchid in Indonesia from global database

¹ National Research and Innovation Agency, Research Center for Biosystematics and Evolution, Jakarta, Indonesia
² National Research and Innovation Agency, Research Center for Plant Conservation, Botanical Gardens, and Forestry, Jakarta, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: ria.cahyaningsih@brin.go.id

Abstract

The global database plays an important role in preserving vital data and information that aids in the conservation and sustainable use of organisms, including plant species. Many data related to Orchidaceae as one of the largest families of flowering plant species are stored in global databases. An inventory study was done on the medicinal orchid species distributed in Indonesia from several global databases. This study aimed to acquire data from several global databases (i.e., POWO, MPNS, and IUCN REDLIST) related to what and where species are distributed in Indonesia, which species have medicinal records, and other information supporting conservation and sustainable use. The result showed six thousand orchid species with 200 genera in Indonesia. Bulbophyllum, Dendrobium, and Crepidium are the top five biggest genera. More than five thousand orchid species are endemic and distributed mainly in Papua, Kalimantan, and Jawa. About 130 orchid species have medicinal use; 115 orchid species are documented as medicinal plants worldwide, including 39 species recorded in Indonesia. IUCN Redlist has assessed 430 species, with 87 species included in IUCN Redlist species; one medicinal species listed as endangered species (Vanilla planifolia Andrews); and five species assessed as least concerned species. These findings could be important as a foundation for future conservation and sustainable use studies, not only in Indonesia but also in the world.