Transcribe the Living Collection

You might well pick up the spelling of plant genera and species from this project. You will get some idea of the types of data that are on the RBGE plant record index cards.

This project may be of particular interest to volunteers who want to explore plant collectors and collections that occurred in the early 1900s to the middle of the century and the collectors who made them. Some of these would be the first time some plants came to the UK e.g. George Forrest collections of Rhododendrons and Primulas to name just two examples from this treasure chest.

Overall, you will be part of delivering a much bigger picture, and you'll have been there from the start. This project builds the base for what we hope could grow into a joint effort across the globe, as we ask more botanical institutions to contribute their data. These historic biodiversity records of individual lifespans across the plant kingdom, encompassing a vast array of growth forms, and mapping the geographic provenance of the lineage, are fundamental to understanding time and space from - especially the long-lived - plants perspective.

The knowledge they build serves one vital aspect in our ability to communicate the need to protect intact, "slow-mo" ecosystems and helps forecast plant population resilience in the face of global change.