Economic Botany Collection

Cochineal beetle harvest, by Eadweard Muybridge
Dactylopius coccus, cochineal beetles being harvested from Opuntia cacti, Antigua, West Indies, for the production of carminic acid used in the carmine dye, cochineal

Cactus indicus, ca 18th century
Watercolour on paper, ca late 18th century. Hand painted copy of an illustration commissioned by William Roxburgh. Roxburgh noted in his Flora Indica that this cactus was common around Calcutta

Gossypium herbaceum, Willd. (Cotton)
Watercolour on paper, no date (late 18th, early 19th century. Hand painted copy of an illustration commissioned by William Roxburgh)

Indigofera tinctoria (Indigo), 1826
Illustration by unknown artist. True indigo is a shrub one to two meters high. It may be an annual, biennial, or perennial, depending on the climate in which it is grown

Cinchona bark specimens from the Economic Botany Collection, RBG Kew. Cinchona bark and its derived quinine alkaloids were the most effective treatment for malaria from the 17th century to the 1940s

Lagerstroemia regina, Willd
Watercolour on paper. Hand painted copy of an illustration commissioned by William Roxburgh (1751-1815). In his Flora Indica, Roxburgh describes this species as a large timber tree, native of Bengal

Gossypium herbaceum, Willd. (Dacca cotton)
Watercolour on paper, no date (late 18th early 19th century). Hand painted copy of an illustration commissioned by William Roxburgh

Gossypium obtusifolium, R. (Cotton)
Watercolour on paper, no date (late 18th early 19th century). Hand painted copy of an illustration commissioned by William Roxburgh, for his Flora indica

Fish Tongues used to grate Guarana, Brazil. From the RBG Kew Economic Botany Collection, reference EBC 62374. Donated and collected by Richard Spruce

Model of indigo factory, 1886
RBG Kew: Economic Botany:catalogue number: 79733 Indigofera sp. Model of indigo factory, from 1886 Colonial and Indian Exhibition, London. LEGUMINOSAE-PAPILIONOIDEAE

Strychnos potatorum, Willd. (Clearing nut)
Watercolour on paper. Hand painted copy of an illustration commissioned by William Roxburgh (1751-1815). In Flora Indica, Roxburgh notes that this species is found exclusively in the...mountains

Diospyros ebenum, K├Ân. (Ebony)
Watercolour on paper, no date (late 18th century). Hand painted copy of an illustration commissioned by William Roxburgh (1751-1815)

Diospyros melanoxylon, Willd. (Ebony)
Watercolour on paper. Hand painted copy of an illustration commissioned by William Roxburgh (1751-1820). In Flora Indica, Roxburgh notes that the bark of this tree

Cactus chinensis, R. (Opuntia ficus-indica), 1795-1804
Watercolour on paper, 1795-1804. Hand painted copy of an illustration commissioned by William Roxburgh (1751-1815). In his Flora Indica, Roxburgh believed this plant to be a native of China

Lawsonia inermis, Willd. (Henna)
Watercolour on paper, no date (late 18th, early 19th century). Hand painted copy of an illustration commissioned by William Roxburgh (1751-1815)

Gossypium religiosum, Willd. (Nankeen or brown cotton)
Watercolour on paper, no date (late 18th early 19th century). Hand painted copy of an illustration commissioned by William Roxburgh

Quercus tinctoria (Black oak, Q. velutina)
Watercolour on paper, dated 1804 (post publication ). Page from a volume of notes, drawings, plant specimens and proof prints prepared for the publication Histoire des ch├¬nes de l Am├®rique

Japanese hemp production circa 1910. This image came to Kew from the Japan-British exhibition of 1910, which was held to encourage Japanese-British relations

Drying coffee in the Straits Settlements, Southeast Asia, 1899
Workers drying coffee in the Straits Settlements, Southeast Asia, 1899. Once harvested, the coffee " cherries" were sorted

Preparing cinnamon quills for drying, Sri lanka, 1880 s
Preparing cinnamon quills for drying, Sri Lanka, 1880 s. Once the inner bark has been cleaned, the quills are placed one inside another to form quills 1metre long, which are then dried on racks

Manufacture of Sugar at Katipo
Oil on canvas. Inscription in paint on verso of canvas, Manufacture of Sugar at Katipo. 15 or 20 miles from Tete, cutting lengths of cane, crushing it in mill, boiling, and chrystallisation, July 26

Preparing cinnamon, Sri Lanka, 1880 s. The cinnamon is contained in the inner bark of the tree. Once the shoots have been harvested the outer bark is peeled off by rubbing with a brass rod or blunt

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