Inside the world's largest Victorian glasshouse, a lonely plant awaits a mate
Step into the Temperate House at Kew, a massive cathedral of glass housing thousands of rare species. Amidst the 1,500 temperate plants from five continents, one specimen, Encephalartos woodii, has lived in total isolation since 1899, waiting for a partner that may never arrive.
The Temperate House at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is a Grade 1 listed architectural marvel and the largest Victorian glasshouse in the world. Following an extensive five-year renovation, the structure re-opened in 2018 to showcase a vast collection of flora. The glasshouse functions as a vital sanctuary for approximately 3,000 individual plants, including some of the rarest and most threatened species on Earth. These include delicate flora from remote locations such as the Pitcairn, Juan Fernández, and Saint Helena islands.
Maintaining this 'cathedral of plants' requires precise environmental control. Because most species housed here are tender and cannot survive freezing temperatures, Kew scientists maintain a preferred minimum temperature of around 10 degrees Celsius throughout the UK's winter months. The collection is incredibly diverse, representing roughly 1,200 to 1,500 species spanning five continents and 16 islands, including Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Australasia.
Beyond mere display, the house serves as a frontline for contemporary horticultural conservation. The collection includes remarkable specimens like a South African Tree pincushion grown from a seed collected in 1803, and the Chilean wine palm. However, the house also holds a poignant reminder of extinction risks: Encephalartos woodii. Since its arrival at Kew in 1899, this elegant plant has remained the world's loneliest, as it has not had a mate for over a century. Through such collections, Kew and its global partners work to rescue species that are already extinct in the wild or facing imminent loss.
Source: Slow TV: Temperate House | Kew Gardens
