The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies four sites across Scotland – Edinburgh, Dawyck, Logan and Benmore – each with its own specialist collection. The RBGE’s living collection consists of more than 13,302 plant species (34,422 accessions), whilst the herbarium contains in excess of 3 million preserved specimens.
In 1877, the city acquired Inverleith House from the estate of Cosmo Innes and added it to the existing gardens, opening the remodelled grounds to the public in 1881.
The botanic garden at Benmore became the first Regional Garden of the RBGE in 1929. It was followed by the gardens at Logan and Dawyck in 1969 and 1978.
At present: The RBGE is creating a digital record of its renowned Herbarium collection of over three million preserved plant specimens from 157 countries. Historically hard to access, it is now being digitised into high-resolution images that can be viewed by anyone with an internet connection. The digitised platform now sees requests come in from across the globe from students, scientists and plant enthusiasts.
The one millionth specimen to be digitised was Stereocaulon vesuvianum, a species of lichen collected from Ben Nevis in 2021.
RBGE lichenologist Dr Rebecca Yahr, who collected the specimen during a climb up Scotland’s tallest mountain, said: “Celebrating the milestone with this important specimen is an exciting opportunity for us to highlight Scotland’s unique biodiversity and extend RBGE’s mission to research and understand lichens more generally.”
