THE TEMPERATE HOUSE, WORLD'S LARGEST VICTORIAN GLASSHOUSE

Did you know that the largest glass house in the world, the Temperate House, preserves approximately 4,000 different temperate zone plants from around the globe that are threatened?

The Temperate House in Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, opened in May 1863. Although construction began in 1860, it would not be completed until 1899. In 2011 Kew launched a £15m public appeal to address necessary repairs to the Temperate House. It last underwent a major restoration in the early 1980s. The building was restored during 2014–15 by Donald Insall Associates, based on their conservation management plan.

The Temperate House reopened finally in May 2018 to the public after a massive five-year overhaul that restored it to its former glory. During the renovation, some 69,000 individual elements were cleaned, repaired or replaced, not to mention some 10,000 plants had to be uprooted and replanted.

According to the Kew Gardens website, the Temperate House’s function is to safeguard its approximately 4,000 different temperate zone plants from around the globe, many of which are rare and threatened. Kew Gardens has five conservatories in total from the famous palm house to the water lily house. They have everything from cacti to alpine plants inside.

“We use these plants for scientists to come and do DNA work, so the role that these plants play is phenomenal,” says lead horticulturalist Scott Taylor, in a video by the Kew Gardens.

Each of the plants has its own unique history. Take a palm-like plant called Encephalartos woodii or Wood’s Cycad. Atlas Obscura calls the cycad, which has survived five ice ages, "the loneliest plant in the world" because none are believed to be left in the wild. The plant is dioecious​, meaning it cannot self-fertilize. So while clones of the male Wood's Cycad have been created, the original plant waits in London, perhaps in vain, for a female specimen to reproduce with.

It goes without saying that one of the biggest challenges for the team at the Kew Gardens — an UNESCO World Heritage site — was how to look after the Temperate House’s plant collection during the restoration. While some 500 "legacy plants," like the Wood's Cycad, were housed in a temporary nursery during the restoration, a decision was made to replace most of the plants at the greenhouse with younger specimens that will keep the collection going strong for years to come.

Source:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/worlds-largest-glasshouse-reopens-after-five-year-restoration-180968958/