New discoveries to science from Kew

Over 250 years, Kew has made many discoveries about the fascinating worlds of plants and fungi. Each year, many new species of plant and fungi are discovered by our world class scientists.

We discover new things about the plants and fungi every day. This includes how different species relate to one another and new ways to use plants to make life easier and better.

Plants are essential to life on earth. In a world where our changing environment is becoming less and less certain, the power of plants combined with Kew’s scientific expertise is ever more critical.

Support science and research at Kew | Go behind the scenes with Kew blogs

Kew scientists discover the largest genome of them all

05 Oct 2010

Scientists at Kew’s Jodrell Laboratory have discovered that Paris japonica, a striking rare native plant of Japan, has the largest genome of them all – bigger than the human genome and even larger than the previous record holder - the marbled lungfish. The results are published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.

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Protecting plant life from illegal trade

30 Mar 2010

In the week of the fifteenth meeting of the conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITIES) in Doha, Kew's Bronwen Davies investigates the application of DNA technology in plant science and conservation. Bronwen talks to Kew's Professor Monique Simmonds about the practical applications of DNA barcoding in the protection of plant species at risk from illegal trade.

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Fritillaria meleagris at Kew Gardens with part of its DNA barcode

Unlocking the potential of plant and fungal DNA

24 Mar 2010

Following the announcement of the universal plant DNA barcode late in 2009, scientists at Kew are testing the barcode to see if it can be used to identify plants reliably. If successful, this DNA technology will have wide-ranging applications in discovering, identifying and conserving both plants and fungi.

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Establishing a common classification with APG III

05 Mar 2010

The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) is an international group of botanists that aims to establish a common view on the classification of flowering plants, based mainly upon evidence gained from analyses of plant DNA sequences. The first APG classification was published in a ground-breaking paper in 1998. Since then the classification has been refined through two further updates.

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A world view of plant diversity, overlaid in Google Earth

Kew’s GIS Unit releases interactive global map of plant family and genera data

03 Mar 2010

The new map uses the latest in mapping technology to reveal more about the diversity of the world's plant life.

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White water lily and Trithuria submerse, the new waterlily relative

As easy as APG III - Scientists revise the system of classifying flowering plants

20 Jan 2010

Scientists from Kew have led a global revision of the system botanists use to classify flowering plants. This work will have a fundamental impact on how botanic gardens organise their collections and the future use of plant information to improve quality of life.

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First known instance of a cricket as an orchid pollinator captured on film by Kew scientist

12 Jan 2010

An orchid researcher based on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, and collaborating with researchers at Kew, has used motion-sensitive night cameras to capture the first known occurrence of a cricket functioning as a pollinator of flowering plants. The ‘raspy cricket' is entirely new to science.

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