Plants in action at Kew

New palm genus is discovered in the remote forests of New Guinea

28 Sep 2009

The discovery of a new palm genus has revealed that botanists have much still to learn about remote areas such as New Guinea.

Protea plants help unlock secrets of species 'hotspots'

28 Sep 2009

Some parts of the planet with a Mediterranean-style climate have become species-rich biodiversity hotspots, a recent study reveals.

Understanding the building blocks of our natural world - fungi research at Kew

28 Sep 2009

Kew’s specialist expertise is revealing the links between tree health, air pollution and climate change.

Where the wild things are: wildlife, natural flora and fungi at Kew

24 Sep 2009

A surprising abundance of wildlife can be found in the Gardens – Sandra Bell outlines how and why Kew keeps track of them.

Kew's projects in Brazil

20 Sep 2009

Kew's work in Brazil is helping to understand and protect the diversity of plant life in the region and assist communities to use native plants sustainably.

Kew's nine star plants are registered to the National Plant Collection scheme

18 Sep 2009

Among its many collections of plants, Kew holds nine particularly special ones registered as National Plant Collections. Richard Wilford finds out what this means and why they’re so important.

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership - Community Tree Seeds Project

The ‘DIRECTS’ is a three year project aimed at enhancing the role and capacity of institutes in 16 sub-Saharan African countries in the conservation and sustainable use of native tree seeds of community value.

The bark from yew trees has been helping the fight against cancer since the 1960s

17 Sep 2009

The Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia) is one of 500 yews at Kew and has important medicinal uses. Extracts from the bark of the Pacific and common yew are used in treatment for ovarian and breast cancer.

A jurupari ceremonial wooden trumpet donated by Richard Spruce is being exhibited at Kew

16 Sep 2009

Kew's Jurupari ceremonial Brazilian trumpet is just one of the treasures held in Kew’s Economic Botany Collection. It was donated to Kew's collection by 19th-century plant collector Richard Spruce.

Kew's DNA barcoding is leading the way for unlocking the future use of plant material

16 Sep 2009

The impact of being able to assess plant material by identifying its DNA is helping Kew identify the future use of plant material in commercial products, forensic science and authenticating Chinese medicines.