Plant collection has become a controversial issue. Suggestions have been made that a set of ethical principals such as Deontological Ethics or more appropriately Threshold Deontology, should be followed. Further collection guidelines are discussed and appropriate changes suggested to include the role of serendipity in plant discovery and the input of amateur botanists. It is argued that the biggest obstacle to plant bio-piracy is the formal description of new taxa. This monumental task could only be achieved by the cooperation between national botanical Institutions and amateur botanists.