A Rare Open House at Kew Herbarium

Kew Herbarium and Library, founded by George Bentham and W. A. Broomfield in 1853, houses one of the world's largest collections of materials related to botany with over seven million dried plant specimens, 350,000 of which are "type specimens", the original specimens used to describe new species. The herbarium has the largest collection of historical dried plant specimens in the world, with contributers including Charles Darwin, Joseph Hooker and David Livingstone.

Normally open only to researchers by appointment, this weekend the herbarium will offer a rare chance to view the collections. As part of the Open House London weekend, the Kew Herbarium, Library and Archives will be open to the public from 10 am to 4 pm on September 17 and 18, 2005 . Admission is free.

Links:

• Glimpse King Tut's Olive Branch at Kew from Local London


• Herbarium Open Day a Kew press release


• Herbarium collections from the Kew Website

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:40 PM on September 12, 2005