Editor's Picks

Punica granatum, L. (Common Pomegranate), 1817
Original illustration of Punica granatum, commonly known as pomegranate, on watercolour and pencil on paper, from Curtiss Botanical Magazine, published as plate 1832B, 1st July 1817

Portrait of Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer (1843-1928)
Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 1885-1905. Photographic print on paper

dormice

View in the Botanic Garden, Brisbane, Queensland. Marianne Nort
Oil on board, no date. According to the Official Guide to the North Gallery, Fifth Edition, 1892, View in the Botanic Garden, Brisbane, Queensland

481. Moon reflected in a turtle pool, Seychelles
A view of St. Annes Island from the artists window at Mahe with an unbroken reflection of the moon in the turtle pool below, and a cocoanut palm in the foreground

Group portrait showing Women Gardeners
Photograph showing eight gardening staff of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, including the first two women gardeners, in work uniform. Photograph taken in the Rock Garden, c.1898

The Great Pagoda, (exterior)
Sir William Chambers first published this design of the Pagoda in 1763 in his Plans, elevations, sections, and perspective views of the gardens and buildings at Kew in Surry

Ficus religiosa Willd. (Peepul, pipal, pipul or bo-tree)
Watercolour on paper, no date (late 18th, early 19th century). Hand painted copy of an illustration commissioned by William Roxburgh (1751-1815)

Cinera cum flore, Hortus Eystettensis, Vol. 2, 1613, Basilius Besler, Cynara

Angraecum sesquipedale, 1970
Angraecum sesquipedale by John Day, 30 November, 1970. Artwork from John Day's Scrapbook volume 16, page 39.

Caesalpinia sappan, Willd
Watercolour on paper. Hand painted copy of an illustration commissioned by William Roxburgh (1751-1815). The plant is found in most parts of India and its islands. It flowers during the hot season

119. Foliage, flowers and fruit of the Nutmeg tree, and Humming
This Humming Bird (Mellisugaminima) is the smallest known. The genus Myristica is rather numerous in species, widely scattered in tropical regions, including America; but the present species

613. Foliage, Flowers, and Fruit of the Pepper plant
The pepper plant (Piper nigrum, L.) is a native of S. India. White and black pepper are from the same plant. Whole black pepper is the ripe fruit untouched

planting bulbs on the Broadwalk

Protea formosa, R.Br. (Crown-flowered Protea)
Original illustration from Curtiss Botanical Magazine, published as plate 1713, 1st March 1815. Watercolour and pencil on paper. This species is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. According to J

6. Seven Snowy Peaks seen from the Araucaria Forest, Chili
A view of the Cordilleras near Angole, with Burning Bush (Embothirium coccineum), an orange-coloured Ground Orchid (Chloraea sp.), the white-flowered Libertia ixioides, Spreng

228. The Taj Mahal at Agra, North-West India
This magnificent mausoleum was built by the Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Arjamand Benu Begum, who died in 1629. The Taj was finished in 1648

294. The Sacred Lotus or Pudma
Nelumbium speciosum, Willd. is the most beautiful and graceful of all the Water Lilies, its leaves and flowers usually rising considerably above the surface of the water;

Map of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 1771

Solanum lycopersicum, Tomatoes
Tomatoes, or Love-Apples. Illustration from Ernst Benary's Album Benary - Tab. XXIV, 1876-82. Chromolithograph

Calanthe versicolor, 1838
Watercolour on paper. Original drawing for plate XLII in John Lindley's Sertum orchidaceum: a wreath of the most beautiful orchidaceous flowers; selected by John Lindley, published in 1838

Palm House interior
looking up into the tropical canopy

389. Cycads. Screw-pines and Bamboos, with Durban in the distanc
Cultivated in the Durban Botanic Garden, though most of the plants are natives of the country. The Cycads are chiefly species of Zamia, with a small plant of the endemic Stangeria paradoxa, T

609. Tea Gathering in Mr. Holles Plantation at Garoet, Java
The volcano of Goentoen in the distance. In the right foreground Coffee bushes, a Cypress, and some trees of Canarium commune, L

614. The Turong, or Pigeon Orchid in Borneo, and a purple-brown
The former (Dendrobium crumenatum, Lindl.) comes into blossom simultaneously on all the plants about every nine weeks, and the trees

William Dallimore (1871-1959), known to his colleagues as "good old Dallimore" was a well-liked and long serving member of staff at RBG Kew for more than 45 years

Palm House and Parterre

The Tea House, Kew Gardens, which opened in 1888, seen here before it was burned down by members of the women's suffrage movement as part of their campaign

Tulips and Double Anemones

A View of the Wilderness with the Alhambra, the Pagoda and the
Illustration from William Chambers 1763 publication, Plans, elevations, sections, and perspective views of the gardens and buildings at Kew in Surry'. Engraving on paper

The Mosque
Illustration from Sir William Chambers 1763 publication, Plans, elevations, sections, and perspective views of the gardens and buildings at Kew in Surry

Portrait of E H Wilson
Ernest Henry "Chinese" Wilson, better known as E. H. Wilson, was a notable English plant collector who introduced a large range of about 2000 of Asian plant species to the West; some sixty

New Zealand Flowers and fruit Marianne North Painting 721
The spherical plant in the foreground is a small specimen of the "Vegetable. Sheep" ( Raoulia eximia, Hook.f.). It inhabits the mountains

The Temperate House- plan no 15
Plan of the Temperate House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

624. Curious Plants from the Forest of Matang, Sarawak, Borneo
On the left, attached to a trunk, are the bladder-like leaves of Dischidia Collyris, Wall. (Asclepiadaceae) ; and the red ribbon-like bodies bearing numerous small flowers are the inflorescences of

The Lily Leaf from Victoria Regia by John Fiske Allen
The Lily Leaf Victoria Regia. Underside of leaf showing radiating cantilevers. From "Victoria Regia, or The Great Water Lily of America" by John Fisk Allen, 1854

661. Study of Japanese Chrysanthemums and Dwarfed Pine
The Japanese delight in dwarfing normally big trees ; and they have brought the art to such a degree of perfection that they can keep them down to the size of the one represented to a very

New wings to Temperate House
Plan of the wings of the Temperate House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

793. Foliage, Flowers, and Seed-vessel of the Opium Poppy
This plant (Papaver somniferum, L.) has been cultivated in Eastern countries from the most remote time for the sake of the inspissated juice, called opium ; it is largely grown in Asia Minor, Persia

The Temperate House- plan no 9
Plan of the Temperate House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

New wing to Temperate House- plan no 5
Plan showing new wing to the Temperate House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

369. Strelitzia augusta at St. Johns Kaffraria
Trees of the same in the background, and Tecormaria capensis, Spach., trailing over the vegetation on the left (see 365)

The Birdman, Mr Allaway, 1901
The Birdman, Mr Allaway feeding penguin outside Museum No. 1 - 1901. In 1899 three penguins were presented to Kew by Albert Linney

Garden visitors inspect the Demonstration Plot at RBG Kew, during WWII
Garden visitors inspect the vegetables in the Demonstration Plot, Kew Gardens, during World War II. Visitor numbers increased between 1941

Elevation of the Great Pagoda by William Chambers, Architect Sir William Chambers first published this design of the Pagoda in 1763 in his 'Plans, elevations, sections

An exact plan of the Royal Palace Gardens and Park at Richmond, 1754
Engraving representing 'An exact plan of of the Royal Palace Gardens and Park at Richmond with Sion House on the opposite side o the River Thames

William Barron's Tree Transplanter
William Barron (1805-91)'s Tree transplantor at Kew. Barron devised a horse-drawn machine that would allow trees to be uprooted and carried distances of up to 32km without damage.

Crocus sativus, saffron, Iridaceae family. Illustration from Kohler's Medicinal Plants, Kohler Med. Pfl. (i) t. 60, 1887

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