What is the Herbarium?

The Herbarium is a collection of dried plant specimens that are stored, catalogued, and arranged by family, genus and species for study.

With over six million specimens, Kew’s Herbarium collection is one of the largest in the world. It is an unrivalled evidence base that underpins our scientific research.

Each specimen is an immense source of information that can tell us what plants look like; where they are found; what environmental niche they occupy; which species are threatened with extinction; what morphological and chemical variation occurs; and, when they flower or produce seed.

We can even extract DNA from them to study relationships and evolutionary processes.

Around 20,000 specimens are added to the collection each year, a quarter of which are collected by Kew staff with partners from around the world, the remainder being sent from other herbaria worldwide.

Individual plants (or parts of plants) are preserved and cared for over time so that current and future generations can identify plants, study biodiversity and use the collection in support of conservation, ecology and sustainable development. 

History of the Herbarium

When William Hooker was appointed Director of Kew in 1841 there was no official herbarium. Before then, Sir Joseph Banks’ herbarium and library in Soho Square had been used for queries on plant names and classification. Hooker then made his own collection, perhaps the largest in private hands, available to staff and visitors at his home close to Kew.

The ground floor of Hunter House became available in 1852 and was used to house Hooker’s herbarium, alongside the herbarium and library of Dr William Arnold Bromfield. The first curator, Allan Black, was appointed in 1853. Subsequently, eminent botanists, including George Bentham, donated their own collections to that of the herbarium of William Hooker.

In 1877, the need for greater space, due to botanical exploration of the British Empire, led to the first wing being added. Three further wings were added between 1903 and 1969, with further expansion into the quadrangle in 1989, and a modern wing with climate control was added in 2010.

Although the Herbarium was founded in 1852, many of the subsequently donated collections contained earlier material.

The oldest collections in the Kew Herbarium are a few specimens from the Petiver Herbarium, collected by Samuel Brown in India and dated 22–27 April 1696.

For further detail please refer to the Historic England Listing of the Herbarium: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1065399?section=official-list-entry

The Library, Art and Archives

The Library-
We have one of the largest collections of published botanical information in the world. Our main subject area is the taxonomy and systematics of wild plants, including collections of herbaria in microform.

Illustrations and Artefacts Collections-
Our Illustrations Collection is a world-renowned resource for botanical illustration forming an exceptional visual record for species of plants and fungi. Our Artefacts Collection includes a diverse range of items from botanical medals to furniture.

The Archives Collection-
Our Archives contain the official records of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew).
They also includes the personal papers of many botanists, gardeners and other individuals including Charles Darwin, Joseph Hooker and Marianne North. There are over seven million sheets of paper in 4,600 archival collections, comprising correspondence, maps, plans, notebooks, records of plants received and sent out from Kew as well as photograph albums.