Wakehurst Place Picture Book

Wakehurst Place is joint venture between Kew Botanical Gardens and the National Trust.  The site also holds the millenium seed bank project.  As one would expect with a site involving Kew there are some wonderful unusual plant specimens.
To view larger versions of these images click on the photograph. This will take you to the Picasa website, where you can view the images in more detail..

Argyranthemum Vancouver	Parahebe perfoliata
Astrantia Hadspen Blood	Fabiana imbriata Violacea
Crinodendron Hookeriana	Crinodendron Hookeriana
Cornus Wilsonii	Cornus Wilsonii bark
Cornus kousa flower	Chilean Firebush - Embothrium coccinium
Japanese Iris area	Iris Ensata Yatsugatake
Iris Ensata Hatsugasu	Iris ??
Waterfall with Iris and Acers	Cardiocrinum gigantea
Kalmia Latifolia	Acer ??
Acer ?? leaves	Liriodendron tulipfera fastgiatum
Millenium Seed Bank Project	The work and methods used are explained on storyboards located outside the preservation laboratories. There are glass windows allowing you to view the work that is going on but during our visit nothing much was going on except for somdeone doing the inevitable paperwork and specimen logging.  Not very exciting but one of those jobs that desrves high praise because it is so essential to a project like this.  The displays are well worth looking at and compare and contrast the largest seed (Coco de mer, shaped like a bottom) and a field orchid.  The many a varied shapes and colours are shown along with the cleaning and preservation methods used.  Very interesting, and I wish I had had more time to cover this section of the Millenium Seed Bank Project more fully.

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