Living
collections:
Kew | Wakehurst | Micropropagation
Unit | Regions and groups
Wakehurst
Place is situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty
in West Sussex, where the higher rainfall, richer soil
and differing microclimate complements the conditions
prevailing at Kew and allow the range of plants in the
living collection to be greatly extended.
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The gardens at
Wakehurst Place are home to National Plant Collections of four
genera – Skimmia, Hypericum (St. John’s
wort), Betula (Birch) and Nothofagus (Southern beech). They
represent
the most comprehensive collections of these genera in cultivation
in the United Kingdom. The National Plant Collections scheme
provides a focus for their development without compromising their
status as scientific collections.
At Wakehurst Place there is emphasis on conservation, with the
Millennium Seed Bank - the world's largest seed conservation
project; with the Loder Valley Nature Reserve (60 hectares) embracing
three major types of local habitat; woodland, meadowland and
wetland; and the Francis Rose Reserve, probably the first nature
reserve dedicated to mosses, liverworts, lichens and filmy ferns
in Europe. The moisture-retentive sandstone, deep valleys and
relatively high rainfall, help make this area attractive to these
cryptogams.
http://www.kew.org/places/wakehurst/index.html
