Activities and Disciplines

Enquiry Service

Using the unique resources available at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Economic Botany staff are able to provide comprehensive, authoritative answers to many questions concerning economic and poisonous plants. Around 800 enquiries are answered each year. Subject areas covered include:

• Medicinal plants - efficacy, safety, conservation

• Poisonous plants

• Uses of plants, no matter how obscure

• Arid land conservation and development

• Genetic resources and seed sources of economic plants

• Taxonomy and nomenclature of crop plants and other useful plants

• Sources of printed illustrations and of transparencies of useful plants

• Seed identification

• The archaeology and history of plants

• Educational resources for economic botany and ethnobotany

In cases where we cannot answer the question, we can usually suggest who can. We ask that enquirers first consult readily available resources, for example in a local library or on the Internet. Our guide to Economic Botany Links covers many useful resources.

Most enquiries are answered free-of-charge as a public service. This includes simple enquiries from businesses. We also undertake consultancy work for companies, the media, national and local government bodies, non-profit organisations and individuals. Typical consultancy work includes:

• Toxicity reports for novel products (salads, potpourri etc), based on literature surveys

• Seed identification

• Proof-reading and fact-checking for books

• Sourcing illustrations of economic and UK poisonous plants

• Provision of plant-related facts for the media

Please note that research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, focuses on wild plants and useful plants. In general we do not answer horticultural enquiries. Suggestions for other information sources are available.

All enquiries should be made in writing (post, fax or email). Please include as much detail as possible, including some background to your request. We can answer questions better if we know why you are asking them. Please write to:

Centre for Economic Botany
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 3AE

Fax: +44 (0)20 8332 3717.
Email: ceb-enq@kew.org

Special arrangements for poisonous plant enquiries

Non-urgent poisonous plant enquiries should be made in writing. Where actual poisoning is suspected, we advise a visit to a doctor or Accident & Emergency Department of a hospital.

During weekday office hours we do provide a telephone advice service concerning toxicity of plants and fungi. If you have an urgent enquiry, please telephone Kew's central phone line at 020 8332 5000, stating whether the enquiry concerns a plant or a fungus (mushroom/toadstool).