CLEAN AIR AND WATER: Plants are the basis of healthy ecosystems that perform may functions, including purifying air and water. Green plants harness energy from sunlight through the process of photosynthesis. With every breath we take, we depend on the oxygen that is given off as a by-product of that reaction. Plants also play a role in the water cycle. More than 90% of the water that is taken in through a plant’s roots is eventually released back to the atmosphere in a process called transpiration.

FOOD: Plants provide the basis of most food webs on Earth. Even the strictest meat eaters, such as lions, need plants, because the prey they consume are plant eaters. The wild relatives of our own food plants are becoming increasingly important for breeding to make healthier and more productive crops. For example, the Texas wild rice, known from only one river in Texas, is being bred with northern wild rice to develop a new strain suitable for mild climates. And the rare Okeechobee gourd from the squash family is of potential value because it is resistant to certain viruses. This plant is nearly extinct in its native habitat in Florida, which as been cleared for farming.

SHELTER: Plants provide not only food and oxygen, but also protection and shelter. The wood from trees is used in the construction of many of our homes. Cotton and other plants provide us with the materials we used to make many of the clothes we wear. Plants also provide home and shelter and create habitats for many other animals. A single tree in the tropics can be home to more than 1,000 different insect species alone.

MEDICINES: Native Americans used more than 2,000 wild plants for medicine, and over one-fourth of all prescription drugs today have plant origins. Taxol, which is used to treat ovarian cancer, was discovered in the bark of the Pacific yew, a native tree species that grows in Pacific Northwest old-growth forests. Aspirin, which is consumed at a rate of 80 million pills a day in the U.S., was first discovered from a chemical found in willow trees.

ENERGY: Every time we turn on the lights in a room, we use plants that lived a long time ago. Over 350 million year ago, giant relatives of today’s ferns and horsetails became covered with mud as they died and so were prevented from decaying. Over the years, they were compressed to form coal and other fossil fuels upon which most of the world now relies for energy.

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS: Did you know that corn supplies hidden ingredients in products ranging from soap, glue, and pencil erasers to bath powder, nail polish remover, and plastics? Ingredients in many cosmetics and body lotions, such as aloe and jojoba, are also derived from plants. Even some very rare plants are of interest to industry; nine rare meadowfoams from California and Oregon contain seed oils that are alternatives to sperm whale oil as high quality industrial lubricants.

INSPIRATION: Last but certainly not least, many people argue that the true value of plants lies not in their uses, but in their intrinsic value in the web of life. While we can all point to many direct benefits that plants offer us, there is no way of truly measuring the value of any living thing or the inspiration or aesthetic pleasure it can bring to us when we take the time to discover its unique place on this Earth.

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