Advances and Perspectives in Comprehensive Assessment of Medicinal–Ornamental Multifunctional Plants
Xiuli Feng, Lijie Wen, Yunqing Cui, Xueming Wang, Ziming Ren, Yihan Ye, Yiping Xia, Danqin Li · Horticulturae · 2025
China is rich in medicinal–ornamental plants with multifunctional uses, making a significant contribution to global landscaping, environmental beautification, and the health industry. In the post-pandemic era, there is an increasing focus on improving living environments and enhancing immune health, leading to a growing demand for the development and utilization of these plant resources. Resource evaluation is fundamental to their widespread application in landscaping, commercial production, germplasm innovation, and sustainable utilization. However, current research is limited, and there is an absence of a comprehensive evaluation system. The evaluation of these plants, particularly endangered wild species, is vital for biodiversity conservation, rational resource utilization, and breeding. This study proposes a resource evaluation model based on three key aspects: ecological adaptability, medicinal value, and ornamental value. It also reviews commonly employed research methods, such as the scoring method, analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and fuzzy mathematics. Looking forward, we highlight the importance of establishing fundamental evaluation indicators, integrating new technologies, leveraging big data, and strengthening evaluations for germplasm innovation and the protection of these multifunctional medicinal–ornamental plant resources in China.