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Rubiaceae, the family to which the genus Gardenia belongs, are flowering plants that grow as trees, herbs, lianas and shrubs. If you have ever heard of the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family, they are all common names of Rubiaceae. Many genera are economically significant and serve many purposes, as they provide us with coffee, quinine and red dye! There are over 70 species in the Coffea genus, seven of which are economically useful. The Cinchona genus is where we get quinine, which is used for its antimalarial properties. The National Tree of Peru and Ecuador is from the Cinchona genus; Cinchona officinalis! Rubiaceae is an extremely diverse plant family, found in majority of habitats across the world. However, the tropic and subtropic environments house the largest species diversity of this family.

The specimens in this expedition were imaged by Kew's incredible team of in house Digitisation Volunteers and is the last of our project. Kew's Digitisation Volunteer Programme is currently supported by over 20 onsite volunteers who are involved in the digitisation of Kew's Herbarium collections. The completion of this expedition will therefore be a result of the combined effort of our onsite volunteers at Kew as well as our online volunteers on DigiVol! Thank you for your valuable contribution to Kew's Digitisation Project.

Want to learn more about Kew's Digitisation Project? Digitising Kew's Collections  https://www.kew.org/science/digitising-kews-collections