Common questions

How many species are there in Kew Gardens?

How many species are there in Kew Gardens?

The collections at Kew and Wakehurst include over 27,000 taxa of living plants, 8.3 million plant and fungal herbarium specimens, and over 40,000 species in the seed bank.

Are there animals in Kew Gardens?

From badgers to woodpeckers, the Gardens are thriving with creatures great and small. Kew Gardens is home to 50,000 living plants, but it’s also a haven for wildlife who play an important part in our thriving ecosystem.

Who funds Kew Gardens?

Kew Gardens, together with the botanic gardens at Wakehurst in Sussex, are managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, an internationally important botanical research and education institution that employs over 1,100 staff and is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural …

Who is head gardener at Kew Gardens?

Tony Kirkham MBE
Tony Kirkham MBE VMH is the Head of Arboretum, Gardens & Horticulture Services, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Are there peacocks in Kew Gardens?

Kew Gardens on Twitter: “One of Kew’s magnificent peacocks spotted strutting his stuff today in the Gardens.

Who set up Kew Gardens?

Princess Augusta
It was George III’s mother Princess Augusta who founded the original botanic garden at Kew in 1759.

Is Kew a charity?

The Foundation is a registered charity with charity number 803428, and its object is to provide support for RBGK, in particular by undertaking legacy fundraising.

How big is Kew Gardens?

300 acres
In 1840 the gardens were conveyed to the nation, and by the early 20th century the grounds were expanded to the present size of 300 acres (120 hectares). Kew originated the plantation industry of rubber and still plays an important role in plant introduction and as a quarantine station.

Are there deer in Kew Gardens?

Look on any map of London and you’ll see Richmond has two large parks on either side of it. One is Richmond Park. The other is Kew Gardens and Old Deer Park. Anyway, here it is for the record people: London’s free-roaming deer population is in Richmond Park.

How many plants are in the Kew Gardens collection?

Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park in Middlesex, England, its living collections include more than 30,000 different kinds of plants, while the herbarium, which is one of the largest in the world, has over seven million preserved plant specimens.

What is the nearest train station to Kew Gardens?

Kew Gardens station, a London Underground and National Rail station opened in 1869 and served by both the District line and the London Overground services on the North London Line, is the nearest train station to the gardens – only 400 metres (1,300 ft) along Lichfield Road from the Victoria Gate entrance.

How did Kew become the National Botanical Garden?

Capability Brown, who became England’s most renowned landscape architect, applied for the position of master gardener at Kew, and was rejected. In 1840 the gardens were adopted as a national botanical garden, in large part due to the efforts of the Royal Horticultural Society and its president William Cavendish.

What is the temperature inside the Kew House?

The house is designed so that the maximum temperature should not exceed 20 °C (68 °F). Kew’s collection of Alpine plants (defined as those that grow above the tree line in their locale – ground level at the poles rising to over 2,000 metres (6,562 feet)), extends to over 7000.