Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, England (1840)
HE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS in Kew are thought to be the largest botanical gardens in the world, a 121-hectare (300-acre) site on the edge of London, home to the world’s biggest collection of living plants and more than 8.5 million preserved plant and fungal specimens. It is a setting rich in history that spans from royal follies to colonial exploitation and wartime bombing. Kew states that its mission is to “protect plants and fungi for the future of all life on Earth,” and to investigate the plant world for new sources of food, medicine, fuel and materials. Kew continues to help us understand the wonders of nature
