Sir Joseph's buried treasure

Abstract

Discusses the rehousing of Kew's economic botany collection in a new structure built for the purpose and named the Joseph Banks' Building. Banks began the tradition of returning from voyages of discovery with plant specimens and useful products made from them. In addition to the high scientific value of the collections, their rehousing in a state-of-the-art building with a new storage system is of the first importance. Reference collections of plant materials and products made from them can provide critical information about the composition of artifacts and their deterioration. Specimens in the collections range from material gathered in the latter half of the 18th century to specimens of plant material from Tutankhamun's tomb, and, of course, more recent additions.