Kew's quarter millennium

In a modest patch of land in southwest London, it would be hard to conceive a greater richness of biological diversity, history and research activity. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site containing several top-rated architecturally distinguished buildings, a world-leading collection of growing plant species, one of the finest collections of archival botanical material in the world and documents from some of the historically most important biologists, and a tourist destination attracting more than one million people each year, Kew Gardens has a great deal going for it. And this year, it celebrates 250 years since its instigation with probably more pressing activities than in its entire history. Kew is home for many records: it cultivates the world's largest flower, the titan arum Victoria amazonica, which has pads a metre across, and the world's largest collection of living plants, cultivated from 30,000 different species. It is home to 40 species now extinct in the wild; home to 200,000 botanical drawings and paintings — the world's largest collection — and seven million preserved plant specimens. It has six greenhouses, including the world's largest Victorian glass structure, Features two galleries and 40 listed buildings. Within a single state-of-the-art conservatory, overlooked by a famous gingko tree planted in 762, there are 0 separate computer-controlled climates and eight microclimates. Last year, ahead of the anniversary celebrations, it has unveiled a new treetop walkway, which lets visitors appreciate plants from 20 metres above the ground. The 200-metre pathway is designed to mirror the Fibonacci sequence, the simple mathematical formula that is linked to the structures created by many plants as they grow. But the garden could just have been a Thames-side deer park had it not been for Princess Augusta, mother of King George III. Kew was used as a Two hundred and fifty years after its first opening, Kew Gardens finds its activities growing in importance. Nigel Williams reports. Sparkling: Kew Gardens is home to a number of architecturally listed buildings including the famous Palm House. (Photo: RBG Kew.)