Press Release
Miniature world of pollen revealed at Kew
For release 21 July 2003
Flying Pollen, by Rob Kesseler at Kew Gardens until 28 September 2003
Pollen grains are often considered only as the cause of much misery during
the hay-fever season. In fact these tiny structures show extraordinary
variation and complexity and play an important role in modern plant research.
Pollen grains relating to flowering plants as we know them date back 130
million years. They provide valuable evidence about the evolution of plants
and relationships between species. Artist Rob Kesseler has produced a
series of giant microscope images of pollen for Kew's Go Wild festival
sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline, to highlight these amazing structures not
usually visible to the naked eye.
Rob Kesseler was awarded a three-year NESTA fellowship to work with Dr
Madeline Harley in the Micromorphology Unit at Kew Gardens. Here he has
been trained to use scanning electron microscopes that can magnify tiny
pollen grains by up to 50,000 times. The remarkable diversity of shape,
size and structure revealed are important diagnostic features used by
Kew scientists for the identification and classification of flowering
plants. Rob's work provides an imaginative window into this area of Kew's
research.
The Micromorphology Unit at the Royal Botanic Gardens was set up in 1972.
Researchers study ultra-thin sections of pollen walls magnified thousands
of times, to provide clues to understanding relationships between plant
species. This in turn contributes to other areas of research including
for example, commercial pollination in crop production and the identification
of plant species for use in medicines. The study of pollen is also valuable
to other activities including honey manufacture, forensics, aerobiology,
the oil industry, and bee keeping.
For the Flying Pollen installations, Rob collected pollen grains from
the native wild flowers in Kew's cornfield last summer. He captured pollen
images with the scanning electron microscope and manipulated them using
computer graphics. The results are bold, colourful images screen-printed
onto transparent banners and strung between trees in the arboretum, making
a powerful metaphor for the wind-borne pollen grains themselves.
Go Wild is sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline as part of the company's community
investment programme. Kew Gardens open daily from 9.30am and close at
6.30pm Monday to Friday and 7.30pm at weekends and Bank Holidays until
1 September, when closing is 6.00pm daily. For details about visiting
Kew tel 020 8332 5655 or visit www.kew.org.
Entry is £7.50 for adults, £5.50 for concessions. Children
of 16 and under are admitted free.
For further information and images please contact Hannah Rogers, Kew Gardens
press office on 020 8332 5607 (media enquiries only; not for publication).
Hannah Rogers Press Office Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Richmond TW9 3AB
Tel 020 8332 5607 Fax 020 8332 5610
For further Press information please contact:
|
Kew: Public Relations Tel: +44 (0)20 8332 5607/5619 |
Wakehurst Place: Public Relations Tel: +44 (0)1444 894018 |
