Kew restores historic plant pictures

More than 800 pictures of plants by Victorian artist and traveller Marianne North are being restored by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.

Miss North, who travelled the world alone in her forties, made oil paintings and sketches of the plants she saw. Her work has been on display at Kew since the 1880s, but the pictures have deteriorated over the years and are now being repaired and remounted.

The Marian North Gallery is due to re-open in October 2009 as part of Kew's 250th anniversary celebrations.

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