We were initiated into the mysteries of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew by seeing its Herbarium on a special behind-the-scenes visit: an extraordinary archive of dried plants collected from round the world and then stored, including a special collection transferred from the Linnaean Society. I have seldom experienced such a strong sense of global taxonomic knowledge:-
And the plants themselves:-
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
Dear Charles– Lucky you! I simply adore herbaria! Kew is obviously one of the greatest. (I once published a piece on a specimen in the Oakes Ames Orchid Herbarium at Harvard…) –Ivan
Yes, it’s amazing. Go if you can. Charles