Palm House

Richmond, Kew & Hampton Court


The enormous and elaborate 700-glass-paned Palm House in Kew Gardens is a domed hothouse of metal and curved sheets of glass dating from 1848, enveloping a splendid display of exotic tropical greenery; an aerial walkway offers a parrot’s-eye view of the lush vegetation. The huge Jurassic cycad (Encephalartos altensteinii) here is the world's oldest pot plant.