RESEARCH RESOURCES
Kew houses one of the largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world, containing over 8.5 million items and representing approximately 95% of the world’s vascular plant genera and 60% of fungal genera. The strength of Kew’s collections lies not only in their extraordinary breadth and depth but also in the unique suite of collections, the synergy between them and the high quality of curation. The botanical collections were formed to support botanical research, but have increasingly proved a major resource for wider research:
Herbarium: 7,000,000 Preserved dried vascular plant specimens, dating from the 17th century to the current day.
Spirit Collection: 76,000 Specimens of plants, plant parts and fungi preserved in spirit.
Fungarium: 1,250,000 Preserved dried fungi and lichens.
Economic Botany Collection: 100,000 A broad range of samples documenting the use of plants by people, including 42,000 wood collections.
Seed Collection: 86,000 living seed collections held in the Millennium Seed Bank.
DNA and Tissue Bank 58,000 48,000 samples of plant genomic DNA stored at -80°C, and 10,000 silica-dried tissue samples.
Microscope Slide Collection: 150,000 Microscope slides documenting plant and fungal anatomy, including pollen, wood and fungi.
Living plants: 68,000 accessions grown in the gardens and glasshouses at Kew and Wakehurst.
Kew’s heritage collections include:
Library: 300,000 Printed books, journals and pamphlets covering the worlds of plant and fungal science and horticultural history, including: naming, classification and uses of plants and fungi; plant ecology and conservation; wild plants of the world; botanic gardens and herbaria worldwide; the history of gardening and garden design; and the development of botanical illustration.
Art: 200,000 Prints and drawings assembled over the last 200 years and ranging in date from the 18th century to the present day. Additional works on paper, portraits, photographs, and three-dimensional objects.
Archives: 7,000,000 sheets of paper in 4,600 collections Unpublished material comprising correspondence, field notebooks and photograph albums, records of plants received at Kew and sent out from Kew, and maps and plans tracing the development of the Gardens.