Kew Gardens Herbarium

Kew Gardens Herbarium
Name	Kew Gardens Herbarium
Established	1853
Location	Kew, Richmond upon Thames, London
Institution	Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Collection size	~7 million specimens
Director	Dame Elizabeth Blackadder
Website	Kew

Contents

Kew Gardens Herbarium

The Kew Gardens Herbarium is a major plant specimen repository within the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew at Kew in Richmond upon Thames. It serves as a global reference for taxonomy, systematics, and biodiversity studies, supporting institutions such as the Natural History Museum, London, the Royal Society, and the British Museum. Staff and collaborators include curators, taxonomists, and historians associated with Kew Science, International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

History

Origins trace to early botanical collectors linked to Sir Joseph Banks, George III, and the voyages of James Cook and William Bligh, when specimens were sent to royal repositories and private cabinets. During the nineteenth century prominent figures such as William Hooker, Joseph Dalton Hooker, and Charles Darwin influenced accumulation and classification practices, while exchanges with the Herbarium at Leiden University, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, and the Smithsonian Institution expanded global reach. The herbarium evolved through institutional reforms tied to the Victorian era, the creation of the Kew Gardens Act 1897 (administrative context), and wartime relocations during the Second World War to protect type material and collections. Twentieth-century modernisation incorporated collaborations with the Royal Society of London, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, and major expeditions such as those led by Henry Ogg Corbett and botanical networks involving Ernest Shackleton-era collectors. Recent governance has aligned with international agreements including the Convention on Biological Diversity and standards promoted by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.

The herbarium houses approximately seven million preserved vascular plant sheets, bryophytes, fungi, algae, and seed collections amassed from historic collectors like Banks, Joseph Banks florilegia, Robert Brown, Alphonse de Candolle, Alexander von Humboldt, Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, John Lindley, and explorers such as David Livingstone and Alexander von Humboldt. Holdings include notable type specimens associated with taxonomists Carl Linnaeus, George Bentham, Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart, and Olof Swartz. Regional strengths cover collections from Africa, Asia, Australia, South America, and the Pacific Islands tied to collectors such as Joseph Banks, Plant Collectors' Club, and expedition teams organized by Royal Geographical Society. The archives also preserve historical field notebooks, botanical illustrations by artists like Elizabeth Blackwell and Walter Hood Fitch, correspondence from Alfred Russel Wallace, and archival maps linked to colonial-era botanical enterprises.

Curators and researchers at the herbarium have contributed to floristic treatments, monographs, and revisions informing institutions like the International Association for Plant Taxonomy, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew publications, and syntheses used by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Research outputs include taxonomic revisions in families such as Fabaceae, Orchidaceae, Asteraceae, and Poaceae with implications for conservation programmes run with BirdLife International and United Nations Environment Programme. Collaborative projects with the Natural History Museum, London, the Royal Society, and the Scottish Government have produced nomenclatural clarity for economically important crops referenced by Food and Agriculture Organization, phytogeographic analyses used by European Commission initiatives, and phylogenetic frameworks integrating data from the Tree of Life Web Project and Barcode of Life Data System.

Physical facilities include climate-controlled herbarium floors, mounting studios, and conservation laboratories shared with partners such as the Natural History Museum, London and the British Library for archival storage. Digitisation projects have partnered with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the Biodiversity Heritage Library, and research networks like the Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities to image specimens, transcribe labels, and publish metadata. High-throughput imaging platforms and database systems interlink records with World Flora Online, the International Plant Names Index, and genetic data repositories at the European Nucleotide Archive. Digitisation workflows follow standards from the International Organization for Standardization and are supported by funding from bodies such as the Wellcome Trust and the Natural Environment Research Council.

The herbarium operates a loans and exchanges service with institutions including the Smithsonian Institution, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, National Herbarium of New South Wales, and regional herbaria across Africa and Southeast Asia. Conservation treatments address paper acidity, fungal contamination, and pest management using protocols endorsed by the International Council of Museums and training programmes with the Courtauld Institute of Art conservation specialists. Loan policies align with international agreements such as the Nagoya Protocol and material transfer guidance used by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew compliance office, enabling researchers at universities including University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Edinburgh, and Harvard University to study type specimens and reference material.

Public engagement includes exhibitions at Kew Gardens, London glasshouses and galleries, educational programmes run with the Science Museum, London and the Natural History Museum, London, and citizen science initiatives coordinated with Zooniverse and local societies such as the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Outreach offers workshops, guided tours, and digital resources used by schools affiliated with the Department for Education and university students from Royal Holloway, University of London and King's College London. Collaborative events with organisations like the Garden Museum and lectures by visiting scholars from Millennium Seed Bank Partnership and the Royal Horticultural Society extend access to historical collections, digitised imagery, and teaching modules.