Kew Gardens - The Palm House
17 May 2003
![](../../images/2003/2003-05/2003-05-17-130853.jpg)
A visit to the Palm House at the
Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew
![](../../images/2003/2003-05/2003-05-17-123401.jpg)
And what is this weird sight that greets us? It is a banana flower, specifically
a Canary Banana, musa acuminata.
![](../../images/2003/2003-05/2003-05-17-123432.jpg)
And there are the bananas. The banana plant resembles a tree but is, in fact, a
giant herb. Originating in the Indo-Malaysian region, bananas were first brought
to Europe in the tenth century.
![](../../images/2003/2003-05/2003-05-17-124001.jpg)
Tabernaemoniana divaricate
![](../../images/2003/2003-05/2003-05-17-124243.jpg)
Medinilla magnifica, from the Philippines
![](../../images/2003/2003-05/2003-05-17-124517.jpg)
Ixora 'Peter Rapsey'
![](../../images/2003/2003-05/2003-05-17-124740.jpg)
Pachystachys lutea
![](../../images/2003/2003-05/2003-05-17-125134.jpg)
An unidentified hibiscus
![](../../images/2003/2003-05/2003-05-17-125207.jpg)
Hibiscus 'Miss Kitty'
![](../../images/2003/2003-05/2003-05-17-125243.jpg)
![](../../images/2003/2003-05/2003-05-17-125407.jpg)
Pleiocarpa mutica, from West Africa
![](../../images/2003/2003-05/2003-05-17-125537.jpg)
Madagascar periwinkle (Cartharanthus roseus). Traditionally used in
remedies for diabetes and digestive complaints, more recently it has been used
against cancer, containing two alkaloids extracted to treat leukaemia and
Hodgkin's disease.
![](../../images/2003/2003-05/2003-05-17-125724.jpg)
Catharanthus roseus 'Albus'
![](../../images/2003/2003-05/2003-05-17-125822.jpg)
Mitriostigma axillaris
![](../../images/2003/2003-05/2003-05-17-125922.jpg)
Scadoxus cinnabarinus, from West Africa
![](../../images/2003/2003-05/2003-05-17-130102.jpg)
Mimosa pudica var. unijuga
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