Plant artefacts

Discover Kew's historic plant artefact collection, begun in 1847 by Sir William Hooker. This fascinating global collection includes around 85,000 artefacts including herbal medicines, food and fibres. The collection illustrates the extent of human use of plants around the world, and the huge variety of objects range from paper to weapons and clothing to medicines.

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Economic Botany blog

An ethnobotanical new year

by: Mark Nesbitt, Economic Botany blog
25 Oct 2011

This autumn Kew welcomed the 14th intake of students into the joint University of Kent/Kew MSc in Ethnobotany.  In a packed two days the students were introduced to Kew's collections, had an intensive day of plant-collecting, and heard this year's Distinguished Ethnobotanist lecture.

Conservators care for tapa cloth at Kew

by: Daniel Barter & Cristina Liria, Economic Botany blog
15 Aug 2011

Two conservation students from Camberwell College of Arts have spent three weeks surveying barkcloth specimens from the Pacific.

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Artefact of the month

Hat

This hat was collected for Kew by Richard Spruce in the 1890s. These practical hats are both flexible and durable. It was made in the Pueblo de Monagas region of the Amazonas from the leaves of either the bera or arrow grass. The rough cuticle is scraped off the leaves which are then cut into strips and woven.

Economic Botany Collection

Rubber tile by Charles Macintosh (1851)

In-depth information about Kew's Economic Botany Collection. Find out more about the artefacts and Kew's research.