Plants for people
Economic botany collections
Where scientists conserve and study a collection of plants and plant materials of economic and social importance.
The Joseph Banks building
Sir Joseph Banks was the explorer and botanist who helped to establish Kew as a leading botanical garden. His own collection of plant specimens is now part of the Herbarium a the Natural History Museum.
The building houses the economic botany collection. The library and much of the working part of the building is covered by earth which saves energy by providing insulation.
The collection
The collection at Kew is made up of 76 thousand specimens. This includes a fine collection of wood samples as well as raw materials and chemicals derived from plants including natural oils of interest as possible sources of drugs and medicines.
Conserving world heritage
The collection features the skill and craft of people who have fashioned all manner of objects from plant materials. The collection grows year by year as scientists send in contemporary specimens from parts of the world where rapid economic and social change means that traditional ways are fast disappearing.
Submitted by: Andrew Hunt, 17 January 2007
