RESUMO
The plants of Bletilla are one of the groups in Orchidaceae with the highest economic value. As the traditional Chinese medicinal material, Bletillae Rhizoma exhibits excellent efficacy in hemostatic, antibiosis, detumescent, anticancer activities and regenerating tissue to heal wound, which has great development potential. However, Bletillae Rhizoma is mainly collected from wild resources. At present, the quantity of wild resources of Bletilla plants has sharply decreased and is far from meeting the needs. Resource appraisal and breeding and cultivation of excellent germplasms of Bletilla plants are important for scientific utilization of the resources of the genus. This paper reviewed the following researches of Chinese Bletilla resources: species and distribution, genetic diversity, active ingredient evaluation, breeding, as well as seeding production and cultivation techniques. Suggestions were also provided in further researches on the resources evaluation, sustainable development and efficient utilization of Chinese Bletilla plants.