Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

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Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (brand name Kew) is a

non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom
sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

research and education institution, it employs 750 staff.[2]

Its chief executive is the current Director, Richard
Deverell.[3] Its board of trustees is chaired by Marcus
Agius, a former chairman of Barclays

PLC.[4]

The organisation manages botanic gardens at Kew in

Richmond upon Thames in southwest London, and at
Wakehurst Place, a National Trust property in Sussex
which is home to an internationally important Millennium
Seed Bank. The Seed Bank is also the site of multiple
research projects[5] and international partnerships with at
countries.[6]

least 80
Seed stored at the bank fulfils two
functions: it provides an ex situ conservation resource and
also facilitates research around the globe by acting as a
repository for seed scientists. Kew jointly with the
Forestry Commission, founded Bedgebury Pinetum in
Kent, specialising in growing conifers.

Type

Non-departmental public body

Location

Kew, London Borough of

Richmond upon Thames

Key
people

Marcus Agius (Chairman)

Richard Deverell (Director)
Kathy Willis (Director of
Science)

Budget

59.7 million[1]

Employees 750[2]
Mission

To be the global resource in plant and

fungal knowledge, and the worlds
leading botanic garden.

Website

www.kew.org (http://www.kew.org)

Contents
1 Governance
2 Scientific staff
3 Resources at Kew
3.1 International Plant Names Index

Palm House, Kew Gardens

3.2 The Plant List

0:00

4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Governance

MENU

Audio description of the Palm House

at Kew Gardens by Baroness Lola
Young

Kew is governed by a Board of Trustees[4] which comprises a chairman and 11 members. Ten members and
the chairman are appointed by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Her Majesty
the Queen appoints her own trustee on the recommendation of the Secretary of State.[4] As of 2015 the
Board members are:
Marcus Agius, Chairman[7]
Professor Jonathan Drori CBE[8]
Val Gooding[9]
Dr Geoffrey Hawtin[10]
Ian Karet[9][11]
Sir Henry Keswick[12]
George Loudon[13][14]
Sir Derek Myers[15]
Professor Malcolm Press[16]
Professor Nicola Spence[10][17]
Jennifer Ullman[18]
Sir Ferrers Vyvyan[10][19]

Scientific staff
Kew employs approximately 250 scientists,[20] and also hosts over 40 PhD students and 88 honorary
research fellows and associates. The Director of Science is University of Oxford Professor Kathy Willis. Her
deputy is Professor Monique Simmonds. Professor Mark Chase is Senior Research Professor.[20]

Resources at Kew
International Plant Names Index
The Harvard University Herbaria and the Australian National Herbarium co-operate with Kew in the IPNI
database, a project which was launched in 1999 to produce an authoritative source of information on
botanical nomenclature including publication details. The IPNI includes information from the Index
Kewensis, a project which began in the 19th century to provide an "Index to the Names and Authorities of all
known flowering plants and their countries".[21]

The Plant List

Kew also cooperates with the Missouri Botanical Garden in a related project called The Plant List, which,
unlike the IPNI, provides information on which names are currently accepted. The Plant List is an Internet
encyclopedia project which was launched in 2010 to compile a comprehensive list of botanical
nomenclature.[22][23] The Plant List has 1,040,426 scientific plant names of species rank of which 298,900
are accepted species names. In addition, the list has 620 plant families and 16,167 plant genera.[24]

See also
Botanists active at Kew Gardens

Curtis's Botanical Magazine, an illustrated publication which began in 1787 and is published by
Wiley-Blackwell for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Directors of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
GrassBase
Index Kewensis, a massive index of plant names started and maintained by Kew Gardens
Joseph Dalton Hooker, who succeeded his father as director in 1865
Kew Bulletin, a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media on
behalf of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Kew Gardens
The Great Plant Hunt, a primary school science initiative created by Kew Gardens, commissioned and
funded by the Wellcome Trust
Wakehurst Place

References
1. "Annual report 2012-13" (PDF). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 30 June 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
2. Dyduch, Amy (28 March 2014). "Dozens of jobs at risk as Kew Gardens faces 5m shortfall". Richmond Guardian.
Retrieved 26 June 2014.
3. "Director". People and departments. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
4. "Board of Trustees". People and departments. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
5. "Seed science". Millennium Seed Bank Partnership. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
6. "Projects and partners". Millennium Seed Bank Partnership. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 15 September
2014.
7. Lusher, Adam (13 January 2015). "Duchess of Northumberland accuses Kew Gardens of 'copying' her treehouse
idea". The Independent. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
8. "Reappointment to the Board of the Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG), Kew" (Press release). Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. 15 August 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
9. "Appointments to the Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" (Press release). Royal Botanic
Gardens, Kew. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
10. "Reappointments to the Board of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" (Press release). Department for Environment,
Food & Rural Affairs. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
11. KARET, Ian Albert Nathan. Who's Who 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of
Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
12. KESWICK, Sir Henry (Neville Lindley). Who's Who 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an
imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
13. "Reappointments to the Board of Trustees, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" (Press release). Royal Botanic
Gardens, Kew. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
14. LOUDON, George Ernest. Who's Who 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of
Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
15. MYERS, Sir Derek (John). Who's Who 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of
Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
16. "Reappointment to the Board of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" (Press release). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 27
January 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
17. SPENCE, Prof. Nicola Jane. Who's Who 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of
Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
18. ULLMAN, Jennifer Margaret. Who's Who 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of
Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
19. VYVYAN, Sir (Ralph) Ferrers (Alexander). Who's Who 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an
imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
20. "Science staff: About us". London: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
21. Hooker, Joseph Dalton, 1893 Preface. In Index Kewensis: an enumeration of the genera and species of flowering
plants from the time of Linnaeus to the year 1885 inclusive (ed. B. D. Jackson). Oxford: Clarendon.
22. Bates, Claire (5 January 2011). "Botanical A-Z via Kew: British experts complete database of every plant name on
the planet all 1.25million of them". Daily Mail (London). Retrieved 19 May 2015.
23. "World's Largest Plants Database Assembled". Discovery News. 29 December 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2014.

24. Satter, Raphael G. (29 December 2010). "US, British scientists draw up comprehensive list of world's known land
plants". boston.com. Retrieved 15 September 2014.

External links
Official website (http://www.kew.org/)
BBC A Year at Kew documentary behind the scenes at Kew Gardens
(http://web.archive.org/web/20050213100955/http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/tv_and_radio/yearatke
w_index.shtml)
Media related to Kew Gardens at Wikimedia Commons
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Royal_Botanic_Gardens,_Kew&oldid=711783494"
Categories: 1759 establishments in England Botanical research institutes Charities based in London
Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (United Kingdom) Exempt charities
Kew, London Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government
Organisations based in Richmond upon Thames Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
This page was last modified on 24 March 2016, at 21:31.
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