700 Plant Species Face Extinction

Almost 700 native plants are threatened with extinction in the United States by the year 2000, most of them in southerly and subtropical regions with booming populations or economies, according to a study released Monday by a private conservation group.

The Center for Plant Conservation said they found that 253 species of plant may become extinct within five years and another 427 may vanish by the turn of the century. As many as 52 of the plant species may already be extinct in the wild.

Seventy-three percent of the most critically endangered plants are found in Hawaii, California, Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, according to the center, a consortium of 19 botanical gardens and arboretums with headquarters in Jamaica Plain, Mass.

“What we’re dealing with here is just another sign of a planet in trouble and indeed, a national environment in trouble,” said Thomas Lovejoy, an expert on tropical rain forests and assistant secretary for external affairs at the Smithsonian Institution.

Approximately 200 kinds of plants have already become extinct during the last two centuries, experts generally agree, and conservationists worry the rate may accelerate as population and economic growth jeopardize plant habitat.

Some of the endangered plants are relatives of important timber products, food groups, or plants used in horticulture and landscaping.