Corn is used in products such as soap, glue, pencil erasers, bath powder and plastics.

Many of the products we use everyday have plant origins. Ingredients in many cosmetics and body lotions are also derived from plants such as Jojoba and Aloe.

Even some very rare plants may prove to be useful industrial products ; the threatened Point Reyes meadowfoam (Limnanthes douglasii var. sulphurea), from California and Oregon, contains seed oils that are proven alternatives to sperm whale oil used as high quality industrial lubricants.