Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 staff. Its board of trustees is chaired by Dame Amelia Fawcett.
The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe. Also known as the arum family, members are often colloquially known as aroids. This family of 140 genera and about 4,075 known species is most diverse in the New World tropics, although also distributed in the Old World tropics and northern temperate regions.
Cryptocoryne is a genus of aquatic plants from the family Araceae. The genus is naturally distributed in tropical regions of India, Southeast Asia and New Guinea.
Persicaria maculosa is an annual plant in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. Common names include lady's thumb, spotted lady's thumb, Jesusplant, and redshank. It is widespread across Eurasia from Iceland south to Portugal and east to Japan. It is also present as an introduced and invasive species in North America, where it was first noted in the Great Lakes region in 1843 and has now spread through most of the continent.
Elodea is a genus of 6 species of aquatic plants often called the waterweeds described as a genus in 1803. Classified in the frog’s-bit family (Hydrocharitaceae), Elodea is native to the Americas and is also widely used as aquarium vegetation and laboratory demonstrations of cellular activities. It lives in fresh water. An older name for this genus is Anacharis, which serves as a common name in North America.
Vallisneria is a genus of freshwater aquatic plant, commonly called eelgrass, tape grass or vallis. The genus is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America.
Elmer Drew Merrill was an American botanist and taxonomist. He spent more than twenty years in the Philippines where he became a recognized authority on the flora of the Asia-Pacific region. Through the course of his career he authored nearly 500 publications, described approximately 3,000 new plant species, and amassed over one million herbarium specimens. In addition to his scientific work he was an accomplished administrator, college dean, university professor and editor of scientific journals.
Saribus rotundifolius, also known as the footstool palm, is a common fan palm found in Southeast Asia. It is a member of the genus Saribus.
Heritiera littoralis, commonly known as the looking-glass mangrove or tulip mangrove, is a mangrove tree in the family Malvaceae native to coastal areas of eastern Africa, Asia, Melanesia and northern Australia. The common name refers to the silvery appearance of the underside of the leaves, resembling a mirror to some degree. The strong timber has uses in marine applications and elsewhere.
Charles Baron Clarke was a British botanist. He was born at Andover, the eldest son of Turner Poulter Clarke. He was educated at King's College School, London, and at Trinity and Queens' Colleges, Cambridge. He began the study of law at Lincoln's Inn in 1856 and was called to the bar in 1860. He lectured in mathematics at Presidency College, Calcutta, from 1857 to 1865. Clarke was Inspector of Schools in Eastern Bengal and later of India, and superintendent of the Calcutta Botanical Garden from 1869 to 1871.
Kerriodoxa elegans, the white backed palm, is the only species of palm tree in the genus Kerriodoxa, in the family Arecaceae.
Ambrosina is a genus in the family Araceae that consists of only one species, Ambrosina bassii, and the only genus in the tribe Ambrosineae. This species is the smallest aroid in the Mediterranean, growing only to 8 cm tall. It is usually found growing in woodlands on north faces of hillsides and in humus soil that is covering limestone. It is distributed in Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, southern mainland Italy, Tunisia, and Algeria.
Hendrik (Henk) Cornelis Dirk de Wit was a Dutch systematic botanist who contributed significantly to the knowledge of the Aroid genera Cryptocoryne and Lagenandra. He grew up in the Waterland, a marshy area in the Northwest Netherlands, and had a lifelong interest in aquatic plants.
Adolph Daniel Edward Elmer was an American botanist and plant collector. He was mostly active in the Philippines, his collections being described as new species by both himself and other botanists. The Japanese sent him into Santo Tomas Internment Camp during the Philippines campaign and he died there.
Kew Gardens is a botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its living collections include some of the 27,000 taxa curated by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, while the herbarium, one of the largest in the world, has over 8.5 million preserved plant and fungal specimens. The library contains more than 750,000 volumes, and the illustrations collection contains more than 175,000 prints and drawings of plants. It is one of London's top tourist attractions and is a World Heritage Site.
Aerides odorata is a species of plant in the Orchidaceae. It is widespread across much of Southeast Asia, found in the lowland forests of China, Himalayas, Bhutan, Assam, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, the Lesser Sunda Islands, and the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Najas gracillima, the slender waternymph, is a submerged species of aquatic plant in the Hydrocharitaceae family. found in lakes and streams. It is native to China, Russian Far East, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Iran, Alberta, Ontario, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, the eastern United States. It is also considered introduced and naturalized in France, Spain, Italy and California.
Platycerium grande, the giant staghorn fern, capa de leon, and dapong repolyo, is a species of epiphytic fern in the family Polypodiaceae. It is one of the two staghorn ferns native to the Philippines, along with P. coronarium, and is endemic to the island of Mindanao, in the provinces of Zamboanga, Lanao and Davao. P. grande is often collected from the forests and sold as a highly prized ornamental plant. Due to overcollection and the difficulty of the spores to germinate under natural conditions, in vitro technique is necessary to ensure mass production of this plant species. The local government categorized it as critically endangered species.
Garcinia binucao is a species of flowering plant in the Clusiaceae family. It is commonly known as binukaw or batuan, is a species of Garcinia endemic to the Philippines. It is not cultivated, though its edible fruits are harvested from the wild for use as a souring agent in some Filipino dishes.
Alocasia zebrina, commonly known as the zebra plant or zebrina alocasia, is a plant in the family Araceae. It is endemic to the islands of Luzon, Mindanao, Leyte, Samar, Biliran, and Alabat in the Philippines. It is commonly grown as an ornamental plant worldwide. It is also locally known as gabing tigre in Tagalog. It is nationally listed as a threatened species and collection of A. zebrina from the wild is illegal in the Philippines.
