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Kew Gardens
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The home of Kew Science 👩‍🔬

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Mycologists have been expressing their love for fungi in publications for centuries! Here is a compilation of just a few of the fantastic descriptors the Fungarium Sequencing Project Team have found mycologists using when describing species for the first time.
February 13, 2026 at 2:13 PM
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💘 Love at first Type

Over the past two years, the Fungarium Sequencing Project team have analysed thousands of beautiful fungal Type specimens - the original references used to describe a species.

This #ValentinesDay, we’re sharing one very special Type, from us to you 🍄💖
February 13, 2026 at 2:13 PM
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🎉 Today is Darwin’s birthday! This is an actual wild tomato plant that he collected, over 180 years ago! 🍅

We have millions of specimens like these in our collection, but did you know you can now see them on our new Data Portal, for free!? 👇
👉 https://ow.ly/2ZuW50YcG4Z

#DarwinDay
February 12, 2026 at 10:01 AM
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This 19th Century watercolour of the Chinese orchid Vanda concolor from Kew's Library is thought to have been illustrated by an unrecorded Chinese artist.

See spectacular examples of live orchids on show as part of our Orchid Festival at Kew: 7 February - 8 March 2026 👉 www.kew.org/kew-gardens/...
Image showing a watercolour of the orchid Vanda concolor depicting the roots, leaves and purple brown flowers of the plant. A flower dissection is shown in the lower right hand corner of the image with its five petals spread out like an exploding star. Text along the upper left of the image reads 'Chinese Plants from the Collection of Sir W.J. Hooker' with text in Chinese characters to the lower right of the image.
February 12, 2026 at 9:50 AM
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Last week, their contribution was recognised with the Marsh Volunteer Award 🏆 – a well-deserved thank you celebrating the difference they’ve made.

We’re incredibly grateful for everything they do. Our mass digitisation project simply wouldn’t be what it is without them 💚
February 10, 2026 at 10:24 AM
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Their enthusiasm, teamwork and curiosity have enriched the project! And several of our dedicated volunteers have even gone on to become staff members 🎉
February 10, 2026 at 10:24 AM
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But it’s not just about outputs. Our volunteers support online crowdsourcing, engage the public at events, research specimen stories, share discoveries, and help each other tackle tricky handwriting and data challenges.
February 10, 2026 at 10:24 AM
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Thanks to them, Kew’s Herbarium & Fungarium collections are more accessible for global research – helping scientists, students and communities worldwide.
February 10, 2026 at 10:24 AM
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Their achievements are remarkable:

📸 56,000+ herbarium specimens imaged
🧬 22,000+ plant & fungal records quality-checked
⏱️ ~7,500 volunteer hours contributed
February 10, 2026 at 10:24 AM
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We’re celebrating our Science Collections Digitisation Project volunteers – an incredible team whose work has powered this project forward over the last four years 🌿
February 10, 2026 at 10:24 AM
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🌎 Applications are now open for the Emily Holmes Memorial Scholarships! 🎓
These scholarships provide funding towards plant and fungal postgraduate research projects 🧪
Apply now 👇
https://ow.ly/Xir050Y9r2A
Four scientists in white lab coats conducting experiments with petri dishes and beakers in a laboratory.
February 9, 2026 at 4:01 PM
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Join governments and businesses at Chatham House Events' Climate and Energy Summit to explore strategies for a resilient future.

🗓️ 10-11 March 2026
📍Chatham House & online

Book here 👉 https://ow.ly/yFk350Y0NSV
Wind turbines and solar panels at sunset illustrating renewable energy for the Climate and Energy Summit 2026.
February 9, 2026 at 10:40 AM
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Here are some books we came across during a project in the mycology library last week. Our Library and Archives collections do not only cover plants, but also fungi and lichens. Some have very beautiful illustrations. Others (like the cordyceps) are rather gruesome... 🍄🍄‍🟫🍄‍🟫 #KewLA
Open book with a colour illustration of a bolete on the right-hand page. The description is in Polish. Black and white illustration of various fungi Detail of a colour illustration of various insects and cordyceps fungi growing out of them.
February 5, 2026 at 1:25 PM
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Amongst the notes of 19th century horticulturalist & botanist John Fraser, we spotted this list of unwelcome visitors to a property in Kew! John's ‘uninvited guests’ were botanical rather than human, including species such as thornapple and gallant soldier. How many can you recognise? #KewLA
A section of a notebook, rest on foam supports. The page is titled ‘7. Uninvited guests at 4 Willow Cottages, Kew, 1892-1915’. Beneath this are two columns, listing the names of plants found at the property: datura stramonium; Amaranthus retroflexus; Oxalis corniculata rubia; Oenothera lamarckiana; [?] roseum; Lychnis alba; Silene latifolia; Chenopodium rubrum; Senebiera didyma; Senebiera coronopus; Melilotus indicus (1917); Euphorbia virgata; Sisyrinchium angustifolium; Papaver somniferum; Galinsoga parviflora; Epilobium hirsutum; Ornithopus perpusillus; S.noctiflora; Althaca rosea
January 29, 2026 at 11:45 AM
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MPNS v15 is now live! 🌿

A free, authoritative reference for 41,878 medicinal plants - now with images added for the first time, more global sources, stronger data links and updated taxonomy.

Plant names are messy. Clear data matters for global health.
Explore 👉 https://ow.ly/Ktzt50Y0wv1
Close-up images of vibrant purple saffron crocus flowers and harvested red saffron threads in jars and bowls on Kew's MPNS database
January 28, 2026 at 1:45 PM
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A ‘zombie’ fungus. A ‘bloodstained’ orchid. A plant name straight out of Studio Ghibli 🧪
They’re all in the next issue of Kew Science - plus a few sharp takes on what’s changing in plant science right now 🌍

Want the full story? Get it in your inbox: https://ow.ly/vGPT50Y1Iz2
January 25, 2026 at 10:00 AM
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Traditional medicine is moving centre stage at WHO 🌍🌿 But safe, effective use depends on knowing which plants are being used.

MPNS v15 helps cut through confusing names - now covering ~42,000 medicinal plants, with images added for the first time.

Explore 👉 https://ow.ly/ui9N50Y0wNq
Person wearing a straw hat and gray shirt crouches while spreading goji berries on a large drying surface outdoors.
January 24, 2026 at 11:00 AM
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On his famous H.M.S. Beagle voyage, Charles Darwin collected this fungal specimen, which would later be used to describe the new species Daedalea erubescens. It was on this same voyage that Darwin began developing his emerging hypotheses on the theory of evolution and natural selection.
January 23, 2026 at 11:59 AM
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Spot the difference! This Gymnopus foetidus specimen from Madingley Wood is impressively well-preserved and closey resembles its original illustration. It is also one of Kew’s oldest sampled fungal holotypes, having been collected in 1795. That makes this mushroom 230 years old!
January 23, 2026 at 11:59 AM
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Did you know that Kew has the first ever scientifically described shiitake mushroom? Author of the species, the Reverend Berkeley’s 1875 notes on the specimen, show the Japanese name “Shi-taki” and highlight it being “commonly eaten in Japan and exposed for sale in large quantities in shops”.
January 23, 2026 at 11:59 AM
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This year, the taxonomists on the Fungarium Sequencing Project had a goal to review 10,000 specimens. They hit their target an impressive three months ahead of schedule, so to celebrate their hard work, here are some of the stories they’ve uncovered!
January 23, 2026 at 11:59 AM
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🗺️What a multi-lingual collection: Jacques Gay was a botanist and collector from Switzerland and our Archives hold over 35 volumes of his manuscripts. He wrote mainly in French, although Latin and even Greek found its way into his writing as well. Any polyglots able to translate? #KewLA
Four sheets of paper, roughly A6-sized, pasted onto a larger page. The individual smaller pages are handwritten and contain notes in French, Greek, and Latin. They are presumably notes or correspondence on specific specimens and plants collected by or for Gay.
January 22, 2026 at 10:30 AM
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Millions of records, centuries of discovery, all in one place 🌿

From specimens gathered on 18th-century voyages to Kew’s living collections of today, our data reveals the diversity of plant & fungal life — now accessible wherever you are 👇

https://ow.ly/OJLY50XZzOX
January 19, 2026 at 12:01 PM
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We're joining the Heritage Fund UK in celebrating #HeritageTreasures!

Kew's Marianne North Gallery was completed in 1882, with much needed restoration work done on the Gallery and its paintings in 2008. The restoration was made possible in part with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund 🎨🖌️
A colour photograph showing the restored interior of the Marianne North Gallery at Kew. The photograph shows the view from inside the rear gallery looking ahead towards the entrance doors through which streams light which reflects on the brown, black and orange tiles of the Gallery floor. Different woods can be seen set running around the lower panels of the Gallery walls above which runs a wooden rail set with intermittent labels describing the woods and paintings which are set in a colourful jigsaw fashion from mid height to high up on the wall.
January 15, 2026 at 11:48 AM
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It’s official, 125 plants and 65 fungi were named NEW to science in 2025!

Every year, our botanists & mycologists work with partners across the world to officially name & describe new species to science 🧪

See our list of the top ten! 👉 https://ow.ly/J7LY50XT51M
January 8, 2026 at 10:30 AM