A vast collection of historical plant specimens
The Herbarium at Kew Gardens
The Herbarium holds a collection of over 7 million dried and pressed plant specimens gathered over about 150 years. Experts visit Kew to study the famous collections which include samples collected by famous explorers such as Charles Darwin and David Livingstone.
Expanding the collection
Every year the Herbarium receives around 30 thousand new specimens. The new specimens come from overseas expeditions, joint work with scientists in other parts of the world, gifts and exchanges with other institutes.
Scientists at Kew are experts in the identification, distribution, morphology, and economic usage of plants and fungi from around the world.
Type specimens
Scientists base their descriptions of new species on type specimens. These are the original samples of the plants and fungi, which define a named species for all time. There are over 250 thousand type specimens at Kew. Some date back to the early days of the systematic classification of plants in the eighteenth century.
Submitted by: Andrew Hunt, 17 January 2007
