Book excerpt: The Wild Flora of Kew Gardens: A cumulative checklist from 1759 details all plants that have ever been recorded growing in a wild state within the Gardens or its periphery (including the towpath, Kew Green and Old Deer Park), and all natives cultivated in formal beds or other plantings, either currently or in the past, for which there is reliable documentation, dating back to the first record of 1759. Nearly 2,000 taxa are included, with citation of literature records and herbarium specimens and accompanying colour photographs. The book notes the past and present distribution of wild species within the Gardens, and demonstrates the extent to which the wild flora of the Kew estate has changed over its 250 years.