Floral greens industry
From NarratingLandscapes
When someone purchases flowers from a florist, whether in the U.S., Europe, Canada , or many other parts of the world, there typically will be sprigs of greenery that are part of the floral arrangements. Frequently these sprigs are salal, which grows abundantly in Oregon , Washington , and British Columbia.
The market for native floral greenery began to rapidly develop in the 1930s. Western swordfern and evergreen huckleberry were popular during this period. In the 1950s, salal was becoming popular, likely because of its durability. By 1972, BC exports of salal had captured one-third of the total worldwide salal market.
Although swordfern is still harvested for the market, demand for the product is a mere fraction of what it once was, and the demand for salal has exploded into an industry worth tens of millions of dollars. The history of the floral greens industry illustrates the dynamic character of the non-timber forest products industry.
Sources:
http://laborcenter.evergreen.edu/docs/Floral%20Greens%20Report%20v3.pdf
Supported by the Arts IT Fund at UBC