Phytochemical Studies of Korean Endangered Plants: A New Flavone from Rhododendron brachycarpum G.Don

Abstract

Globally at least 13% of known flora are endangered or threatened and the rate of the global biodiversity decline is not improving. 1 The USDA claims that there are now over 780 endangered or threatened species of plants in the United States and its territories, 2 and the Korea National Arboretum reports that over 500 rare species exist in the Korean peninsula. 3 In spite of the growing number of endangered and rare plant species, there are few studies that address the potential of such species to play a pivotal role in the provision of lucrative drug-prototypes or new chemical entities. According to a phylogenetic study, drug-producing plant families are more likely to be clustered than distributed in the phylogenetic tree. 4 Most of the selected families contain endangered species, which validates the prioritization of chemical investigation of endangered species, as extinction of these species leads to the permanent loss of potential drug leads or novel chemistry. Rhododendron brachycarpum G. Don (Ericaceae) is an evergreen broad-leaved shrub native to northern Korea and