Our current Reading Room display 'Leafy Legacies' offers an insight into how varied staff history at RBG Kew is and how many records we hold about it. Read more about it by clicking the link below and keep an eye out for highlights from the exhibition.

kew.org/kew-gardens/wh…

We are lucky to have the help of one of our volunteers in indexing volumes from our Plant Lists series. These are part of our Goods Inwards/Outwards, recording plant exchanges with Kew. So many names and places to send you down a rabbit hole 🧐 Thank you to all our volunteers!

This looks like a fascinating event and an interesting programme, including opportunities to hear from some of our PhD students 🌳

Find out more here: derby.ac.uk/events/latest-…

This week, someone requested to see this 1880 volume on New Zealand ferns by H.B. Dobbie in our Reading Room. To make the images, he used the same technique of blueprinting that he was familiar with from his work as an engineer. More on this technique 👉 kew.org/read-and-watch…

Our Library holds a great number of #herbals and #pharmacopoeias ranging from the 6th century all the way to today. Last week, we had a group of medical professionals visiting to learn about them. CHSLib #rarebooks #mandrake

Happy Orthodox Easter! In Greek culture, Easter time is inextricably linked to the lilac (Syringa vulgaris), which flowers around this time of the year. Even the common name of this plant refers to Easter / Pascha in Greek: Paschalia / Πασχαλιά. #botanicalillustration

Our new display, Leafy Legacies, has just opened! It explores staff histories preserved within the Library & Archives collections (Tues - Thurs 10.00 - 4.00). Learn some of the fascinating personal stories of those who have helped the organisation thrive over the past 200 years.

Many tend to associate carnivorous plants with the #Venusflytrap but there are over 600 other meat-eating species. Illustrated below, Nepenthes (or 'monkey cups' plant) consumes mainly insects🦟, but larger specimens have also adapted to devour rodents!

#WorldCarnivorousPlantDay

#EYANature is coming to an end and we couldn't let it pass without showcasing at least one item from our collections. This volume, titled 'Air Pollution', includes detailed lists and correspondence on the effects of fog and smoke on the plants in the Gardens. 🧐

The emergence of cherry blossom is a classic sign of the arrival of #spring . This illustration, published in 1921, depicts Prunus serrulata, a Japanese variation of the flower, now cultivated in the UK. Visit the Gardens to catch the last of this spring's cherry blossom at Kew!🌸

Today is #StGeorgesDay and we're celebrating with these beautiful botanical illustrations. One is of 'Lathyrus odoratus', sometimes called St George due to its red and white colouring (though perhaps not very visible here). And the other is - of course - a rose! 🌹

Despite the bulky volume of some #herbal s , these books were very well used and often bear elaborate #marginalia as a result. Here's a 👉 #manicule and a snake from our 1485 Ortus Sanitatis, printed by P. Schoeffer. #ManiculeMonday #MarginaliaMonday #rarebooks #herbal #incunabula

Our Archives materials relating to the Living Collections are a treasure trove of plant exchanges, connections and observations 🧐 These are lists of plants sent by Dora Stafford to Kew and we can see how well they did in the Gardens! Can you spot the 'gem' in the lists?

Today is #PlantAppreciationDay and our team would like to mark the occasion by choosing some favourites from amongst our collections! Though the choice is always a tricky one 🌺 These gooseberries and gorse illustrations will brighten up your day 🌻

During our current inventory, we came across this beautiful painting of an Alcea flower- also known as #Hollyhock . Whilst a popular garden choice, Hollyhock is also the feature of the annual Kyoto festival 'Aoi Matsuri', where they are celebrated for their legendary significance.

One of the oldest Archive records of plants in our Gardens is this 'Catalogue of Trees and Shrubs' from 1773. It was found in Windsor Castle library almost 200 years later and transferred by the Royal Librarian to the Keeper of the Herbarium & Library, Arthur Cotton.

It is the last week of Orchids of Lindisfarne, which features paintings of orchids by botanical artist Reinhild Raistrick. Come along to the Herbarium at Kew Green to visit, open Tuesday-Thursday 10am-4pm.

#BotanicalIllustration #OrchidsofLindisfarne #KewLibraryandArchives

A Transylvanian flora with a black leather binding and edges that remind us of bloodshot eyes... Published in Sibiu in 1866. Any attempts at #deciphering the #handwriting on the title page? #ForeEdgeFriday #Romania #Romania n #aroundtheworldin80books #RareBooks