Activities and Disciplines

Nomenclature

The accurate naming of plants is crucial to our survival in the natural world. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has an unparalleled ability to assign the correct name to a large percentage of the world's flora. Our long history has provided us with unique strengths and our greatest asset is the range and quality of our collections.

We have one of the most comprehensive and best curated herbaria, which contains a wealth of historical material. Our staff have globally recognised expertise in numerous plant families, such as legumes, grasses, palms, orchids, coffees, daisies and mints.

Other related areas within the organisation include our work with poisons enquiries, and on the identification of fungi, wood, pot pourri, and seeds.

• IPNI (International Plant Names Index).