Scientists and others have been eating strange things for centuries!

Photograph of the 'hen and chickens' pineapple, sent to Kew in a letter from Leonard Wray Jr., from Malaysia 1892 [archive ref: DC 165/275]

Look guys, it's not just me that has this strange fascination with discovering edible plants. A special group at Kew Royal Botanic Gardens is working to digitize (scan/photograph and summarize) letters sent to and from the Director at Kew all the way back to the 1840s. Because Kew Gardens have long been considered one of the leading research and collections hubs for plants and other things of botanical interest, scientists and botanists have been sending their findings, interesting anecdotes, and even samples or specimens to the gardens ever since the first official director, Sir William Jackson Hooker, was appointed in 1841.

Come see this Kew blog posting about edible plants that have been referred to in the Director's Correspondence.