Getty Images image captionThe Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG) at Kew houses at least 16,900 unique plant species. Kew Gardens has set a new record for the largest living plant collection at a single site, according to Guinness World Records (GWR). Established in 1759, the Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG) at Kew had 16,900 unique plant species as of May 2019. This makes it the most diverse collection of living flora at a single-site botanic garden, GWR said. Richard Barley, director of horticulture at RBG, called the award “a fantastic accolade”. Mr Barley said: “We are absolutely thrilled to hold the record for the largest living plant collection. “It re-enforces the importance of botanic gardens around the world, as not only beautiful places to enjoy, but as essential hubs of inspiration and education.” Getty Images image captionKew Gardens was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2003 and celebrated its 260th anniversary in 2019 Kew Gardens expects the record number of plants to rise significantly when it completes an ongoing stock-take of all its collections. The UNESCO World Heritage site contains many record-breaking plants including the Titan Arum, officially the worlds tallest and smelliest plant. In 2020, a specimen at […]
Kew Gardens: Royal Botanic Gardens breaks record for largest plant collection
