Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Herbarium

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Herbarium
Name	Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Herbarium
Established	1853
Location	Kew, London, United Kingdom
Type	Herbarium, research institution
Collection size	~7 million specimens
Director	Margaret Cook (example)

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Herbarium The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Herbarium is the principal botanical specimen repository associated with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew located in Kew Gardens in London. As a global hub for plant systematics, taxonomy, and biodiversity research it supports collaboration with institutions such as the Natural History Museum, London, the Royal Society, the British Museum, and the Linnean Society of London. The Herbarium underpins international initiatives including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and the International Plant Names Index, serving as a reference for researchers, conservationists, and policymakers.

History

The Herbarium traces its origins to the 18th-century plant collections amassed by figures linked to the Royal Garden at Kew Palace and later formalised during the directorship of Sir William Hooker and Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, whose expeditions connected Kew to the Royal Geographical Society and the British Empire's botanical networks. Throughout the 19th century the Herbarium expanded via specimen exchanges with collectors such as Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, and Joseph Banks, and it became integrated with colonial botanical institutions including the Calcutta Botanical Garden and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. During the early 20th century curators like Sir Joseph Hooker's successors modernised curation practices influenced by standards from the American Museum of Natural History and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris. The Herbarium sustained operations through wartime challenges linked to events like the First World War and the Second World War and later participated in postwar scientific collaborations exemplified by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Collections

The Herbarium houses roughly seven million preserved specimens encompassing vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens, fungi, and algae assembled from historic voyages by patrons such as James Cook, collectors like Ernst Haeckel and expeditions coordinated with the Hudson's Bay Company, the East India Company, and the Royal Navy. Major named collections include holdings from William Roxburgh, Thomas Thomson, Auguste de Candolle, George Bentham, and material associated with publications by A. P. de Candolle and Carl Linnaeus. Specimens cover global biogeographic regions and flag collections from the Cape Floristic Region, the Amazon Rainforest, the Madagascar biota, the Southeast Asian archipelagos, and the Mediterranean Basin. The Herbarium contains type specimens that anchor nomenclature for taxa described by authors such as John Lindley, George Bentham, Joseph Dalton Hooker, and Daniel Solander, and it curates historical herbarium sheets, botanical illustrations linked to Banks' Florilegium, and associated correspondence with figures like Alexander von Humboldt.

Research and Scientific Programs

Kew Herbarium staff collaborate with research units including the Kew Gardens Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, the Jodrell Laboratory, and the Kew DNA Bank to advance plant systematics, phylogenetics, and conservation biology. Research projects integrate molecular techniques influenced by protocols from the Royal Society of Biology and computational pipelines aligned with the Global Names Architecture, supporting taxonomic revisions, monographs, and regional floras such as those for Flora Zambesiaca and the Flora of China initiatives. Collaborative networks extend to universities like University College London, the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, the University of Edinburgh, and international partners including the Smithsonian Institution, the Botanic Garden Meise, and the National Herbarium of New South Wales.

Facilities and Conservation Methods

Specimens are stored in climate-controlled cabinets within purpose-built facilities designed following conservation standards from the International Council on Monuments and Sites and museum best practice exemplified by the Victoria and Albert Museum. Conservation workflows address chemical treatment, freeze-drying protocols, and pest management coordinated with guidelines from the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Natural Environment Research Council. The Herbarium uses cold storage, integrated pest management, and humidity control to protect fragile type specimens and historical material collected by explorers such as David Douglas and Robert Brown, while laboratory facilities support DNA extraction, tissue cryopreservation, and microscopy equipment used by taxonomists and conservators.

Digitisation and Databasing

Kew leads large-scale digitisation initiatives in partnership with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the Atlas of Living Australia, and the Biodiversity Heritage Library to image specimens, transcribe labels, and georeference historical collections. Databasing systems interoperate with the International Plant Names Index, IPNI, and the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families to facilitate nomenclatural research and enable online portals used by institutions such as the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the New York Botanical Garden. Citizen science programmes interface through platforms advocated by the Zooniverse and crowdsourcing collaborations with museums like the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Education and Public Engagement

The Herbarium supports educational outreach connected to Kew Gardens exhibitions, school programmes accredited via the National Curriculum agencies, and adult learning in partnership with academic providers such as the Royal Horticultural Society and the University of Reading. Public engagement includes lectures, guided tours, and collaborative displays with cultural partners like the British Library, the Science Museum, and the Tate Modern, promoting botanical literacy and showcasing historic collections associated with travellers including Mary Treat and Joseph Banks.

Governance and Funding

Governance of the Herbarium aligns with the trusteeship of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew board and oversight from UK bodies such as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and advisory links to the Wellcome Trust and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Funding derives from a mixture of public grant awards, philanthropic donations from foundations including the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and corporate partnerships, revenue from admissions to Kew Gardens, and competitive research grants from agencies like the European Research Council and the Natural Environment Research Council.

Category:Herbaria