Biological Gallery

Study of Coco de Mer - Lodicea sechellarum

Illustration of the germinating nut, a snake twined around one of the trees and also a drawing of the cross section of the nut. The illustration includes hand written notes by Gordon on different aspects of the plant.
Major Charles George Gordon, (Charley Gordon and later Chinese Gordon') was one of the most celebrated soldiers and diplomats of the Victorian era. A somewhat eccentric character, Gladstone described him as a hero, and a "hero of heroes". His violent death at Khartoum was commemorated by George William Joy's painting General Gordon's Last Stand (1885). Sir Joseph Hooker enlisted Gordon's services in the collection of plants while Charles was appointed Governor of the Egyptian Equatorial Provinces. In 1881, Gordon went as Commanding Royal Engineer to Mauritius, and while visiting the Seychelles became interested in the Coco-de-mer. Specimens of both this tree and the breadfruit tree were sent by Gordon to Kew. In 1882 Gordon also sent an illustrated letter to Kew outlining the possibility of the Seychelles being the site of the Biblical Garden of Eden, also suggesting that the breadfruit tree was the Tree of Life and the Coc-de-Mer the Tree of Knowledge

© The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Good King Henry

Chenopodium bonus Henricus, Good King Henry. REGNAULT Nicolas Francois (1746-c.1810) and Genevive de Nangis REGNAULT (b.1746). La Botanique mise a la portee de tout le Monde: ou collection des Plantes d'usage dans la Medecine, dans les Alimens et dans les Arts. Vol. 3, 1774. Tab. 8, t. 008

© RBG KEW

Biological, Biology, Botanical, Botanical Art, Botanical Illustration, Botany, Chenopodiaceae, Chenopodium Bonus Henricus, Colour, Cookery, Culinary, Edible, Esculentus, Flavor, Flavour, Flavouring, Flora, Flower, Flowering, Flowers, Foliage, Food, Genevive De Nangis, Good King Henry, La Botanique Mise A La Port E De Tout Le Monde, La Botanique Mise A La Portée De Tout Le Monde, Leaf, Leaves, Nicolas Franc Ois, Nicolas François, Regnault, Root, Roots, Seeds, Watercolor, Watercolour

Nymphaea thermarum is the smallest waterlily in the world

Nymphaea thermarum is the smallest waterlily in the world, and the only Nymphaea to grow in damp mud rather than water - This ‘thermal’ waterlily, which grew around freshwater hot springs, was discovered in 1987 by German botanist Professor Eberhard Fischer of Koblenz-Landau University. It is known from just one location in Mashyuza, in southwest Rwanda. However, it disappeared from there about two years ago due to over-exploitation of the hot spring that fed this fragile habitat. Water was prevented from reaching the surface, resulting in the desiccation of the few square metres where this species grew, and no plant is known to have survived in the wild

© RBG KEW