Herbarium of Kew Gardens

Herbarium of Kew Gardens
Name	Herbarium of Kew Gardens
Established	1853
Location	Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, London
Type	Herbarium
Collections	Vascular plants, Bryophytes, Fungi, Algae, Type specimens
Curator	Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Website	Kew Herbarium

Contents

Herbarium of Kew Gardens is the major plant specimen repository at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in Richmond, London. The collection supports global taxonomic research, conservation policy, and botanical education and sits within institutions linked to the Natural History Museum, London, Royal Society, and international botanical networks. It is renowned for historical specimens amassed by figures connected to Joseph Dalton Hooker, Sir William Jackson Hooker, Charles Darwin, Alexander von Humboldt and for ongoing collaboration with bodies such as the International Association for Plant Taxonomy, Botanical Research and Herbarium Management programs, and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

History

Kew's herbarium traces roots to cabinets assembled under Sir Joseph Banks and grew under directors including William Jackson Hooker and Joseph Dalton Hooker, whose expeditions and correspondence linked Kew to collectors like James Cook, Alexander von Humboldt, Alfred Russel Wallace, and Richard Spruce. The 19th-century expansion tied Kew to colonial botanical networks involving the East India Company, Royal Navy, British Museum exchanges, and botanists such as George Bentham, Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, Carl Linnaeus precedents, and contemporaries like John Lindley. Major reorganisations occurred during the 20th century under directors affiliated with Royal Society initiatives and wartime protection efforts paralleling actions at the Natural History Museum, London and National Herbarium of Victoria.

The collections encompass over seven million specimens of vascular plants, bryophytes, fungi, algae, and seed collections assembled from expeditions by Joseph Hooker, Alfred Wallace, David Livingstone, Thomas Baines, and collectors associated with the Hudson's Bay Company, Royal Geographical Society and missions tied to the British Empire. Holdings include type specimens described by George Bentham, Carl Linnaeus, Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, Ferdinand von Mueller, William Henry Harvey, and others cited in monographs by Morton Araújo and revisions in journals like Kew Bulletin, Taxon, and Curtis's Botanical Magazine. The herbarium preserves historical floras from regions documented by Joseph Banks in the South Pacific, vascular plant sets from the Amazon Basin collectors linked to Richard Spruce and Alfred Wallace, and collections from Africa associated with David Livingstone and Henry Nicholas Ridley.

Kew's staff and associates have driven taxonomic revision, phylogenetic synthesis, and conservation assessments informing policies by the Convention on Biological Diversity, International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. Publications from Kew scientists appear in journals such as Nature, Science, New Phytologist, Taxon, and the Kew Bulletin. Research has involved collaborations with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Missouri Botanical Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Botanical Research Institute of Texas, and initiatives like the Plant List and World Flora Online. Notable scientific figures connected to the herbarium include Joseph Dalton Hooker, George Bentham, William Jackson Hooker, Ferdinand von Mueller, and modern contributors affiliated with projects funded by the National Science Foundation and the European Union.

Curation follows international standards advocated by the International Council for Science bodies and the International Association for Plant Taxonomy. Preservation techniques employ controlled-environment storage, specimen mounting protocols descended from practices at the British Museum and methods used in collections at the Natural History Museum, London and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Conservation treatments address pests identified historically by studies from the Food and Agriculture Organization and involve integrated pest management used by institutions like the Smithsonian Institution. Type verification and nomenclatural work adhere to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants and are coordinated with repositories including the Herbaria at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle and the National Herbarium of New South Wales.

Facilities at Kew incorporate specialized herbarium buildings, climate-controlled stacks, and imaging suites parallel to digitisation centers at the Natural History Museum, London, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and the Missouri Botanical Garden. Digitisation programs collaborate with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Encyclopedia of Life, and national research infrastructures funded by bodies like the Wellcome Trust and the European Research Council. High-resolution imaging, databasing, and georeferencing pipelines integrate standards from the Biodiversity Heritage Library, International Plant Names Index, and partners such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne and the National Herbarium of Victoria.

Access policies align with practices at the Natural History Museum, London, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and Smithsonian Institution enabling research visits, specimen loans, and exchanges with institutions like the Herbarium Pacificum and the National Herbarium of New South Wales. Public engagement includes exhibitions, citizen science projects linked to the Biodiversity Heritage Library, educational programs coordinated with the Science Museum, London and outreach through media partnerships with broadcasters and publishers associated with the Royal Society. Kew's partnerships extend to conservation bodies such as the World Wildlife Fund, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and botanical gardens worldwide including the Singapore Botanic Gardens and Missouri Botanical Garden to support plant conservation and public access.