Great chinese trees: lecture by Tony Kirkham, Kew’s head of arboretum

THU 24 NOV

Tony Kirkham came to Kew in 1978 as a Diploma student and progressed to become Head of Arboretum in 2001. A global tree expert, he has been on many collecting trips in China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the Russian Far East, and he is now one of Kew’s most active plant collectors.  Tony’s journey gained him a fascinating insight into the widespread change and remarkable continuity in China over a century. In his lecture, Tony will describe his favorite Chinese trees, and his travels in China looking for rare and prized trees for Kew’s arboretum and scientific collections.

Tony is co-author of several books, including Plants from the Edge of the World and Wilson’s China. In 2009 Tony was awarded the Associate of Honor by the Royal Horticultural Society for his services to horticulture.

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a 250-year old institution that leads the world in plant and fungal science. As well as being located in two exquisite gardens in England, Kew stands at the center of a global network of 800 scientific and conservation programs in 100 countries. Kew has a long history of working in Hong Kong, mainland China and other countries in the region, with extensive research partnerships in areas such as traditional medicine, plant conservation, research into useful plants and habitat restoration.