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Kew Gardens

   Also found in: Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
Kew Gardens (ky), Kew, Surrey, S England, on the Thames just W of London; Royal Botanic Gardens is the official name. The gardens were founded by the dowager princess of Wales in 1761 and consisted of about 9 acres (3.6 hectares). In 1841 they were presented to the nation as a royal gift. They now cover 288 acres (117 hectares) and contain thousands of species of plants, four museums, and laboratories and hothouses. The Chinese Pagoda, c.165 ft (50 m) high, was designed by William Chambers in 1761; it is still a famous landmark. Near the main entrance is Kew Palace, a red-brick mansion, once the home of George III and Queen Charlotte. In 1965 the Royal Botanic Gardens leased Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, West Sussex, an estate dating to the 13th cent. that is the site of a Tudor mansion and grounds landscaped with fine collections of temperate trees and shrubs. The Millennium Seed Bank, a modern facility storing hundreds of millions of seeds from around the world, is also located at Wakehurst Place.

Kew Gardens

 officially Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Botanic garden located at Kew, site of a former royal estate in the London borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 1759 Augusta, dowager princess of Wales and mother of George III, laid out a portion of her estate as a botanic garden. It became an eminent scientific institution under the unofficial directorship of Joseph Banks. In 1840 the gardens were donated to the nation. Under Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785–1865), they became the world's leading botanical institution. Today they are home to 50,000 different types of plants, a herbarium of more than 5 million dried specimens, and a library of more than 130,000 volumes. The three museums at Kew are devoted largely to economic plant products and a laboratory of plant genetics and classification.



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At a quarter-past three in the afternoon of the following Saturday Ralph Denham sat on the bank of the lake in Kew Gardens, dividing the dial-plate of his watch into sections with his forefinger.
And at half-past eight next morning--before the heat of the day--Raffles and I drove to Kew Gardens in a hired landau which was to call for us at mid-day and wait until we came.
It was rather as if he were thanking a stranger in a smoking-room for some trouble in passing the matches, than as if he were (as he was) practically thanking the Curator of Kew Gardens for coming with him into a field to find a four-leaved clover.
 
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