Taxonomy as prerequisite to conservation
From the latter half of the 18th century the Royal Botanic
Gardens at Kew has been a scientific organisation, involved
not only with the collection and cultivation of plant species,
but also with giving them scientific names and classifying
them into a natural systematic order.
This taxonomic work is a fundamental foundation to all other
plant sciences. Before a plant is given a name and distinguished
from its relatives by stable biological characters, we are
unable to assimilate and access information relating to that
plant species. Horticulturalists, ecologists and all other
plant scientists rely on taxonomists to map out the plant
world for them.
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| Kew Herbarium |
The dried and mounted plant specimens held in the Kew Herbarium
provide a key reference collection for plant scientists enabling
them to accurately identify the species upon which they work.
Voucher specimens from collections used in scientific experiments
are also held in the Herbarium. Such specimens allow future
plant scientists to verify and accurately replicate experiments
carried out by their predecessors.
Among the essential tools of an ecologist or conservationist
is the field-guide – a book, or other media, which highlights
the characteristics that define and distinguish different
plant species from one another. Without a field guide, or
the equivalent identification skills, an ecologist cannot
identify a plant species, let alone determine its abundance,
range and habitat requirements.
Kew staff are contributing to the production of field guides
for some of the most notoriously difficult plant species in
the United Kingdom. The most comprehensive field-guide to
British grasses, first published in 1968, was written by Charles
Hubbard (1900-1980), a previous Keeper of the Kew Herbarium
and Deputy Director of Kew.
At the current time Kew staff are involved in the production
of a new specialist BSBI (Botanical Society of the British
Isles) field guide to British grasses and revision of a BSBI
guide to the sedge family (Cyperaceae) in the UK.
A field guide may aid identification of plants in the wild
through descriptions and keys, but accurate botanical illustrations
provide an invaluable visual aid to identification. A trained
botanical artist will highlight the characteristics of a plant
species that distinguish it from relatives and other similar
species. Kew holds a large collection of botanical illustrations
of both historical and scientific interest. The intricate
work of Kew artist Stella Ross Craig on British plant species
can be seen in the exhibition, Beauty in Detail, currently
showing in the Kew Gardens Gallery.
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