A Year at Kew_04of12_The Plant Auction
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00:00It's a world away from the genteel surroundings of the Royal Botanic Garden's Kew.
00:06But this is the setting for Kew's only base outside the UK.
00:12The Kew House, home for three local employees and many visitors.
00:18Madagascar lies in the heart of the country.
00:22Madagascar lies 250 miles off the east coast of Africa.
00:26Over 90% of all Madagascar's plants and animals exist nowhere else in the world.
00:32And yet, every year, more and more become extinct.
00:36Which is why Kew have made a special commitment to this country.
00:40To make a base, establish long-term programmes,
00:43and work with local people to discover new ways of doing things.
00:49John Dransfield has seen rare palms disappear forever.
00:53This is his search for one of the most threatened palms on the planet.
01:19John Dransfield is the world's leading authority on Madagascan palms.
01:24Now approaching retirement, he has one final Madagascan mission.
01:29We're going to try to establish whether the highly endangered palm,
01:33Dipsis ambusteri, actually still exists.
01:37The evidence we had over the past few years is that the last population
01:42where I knew it to grow has actually gone.
01:45This is a very, very seriously threatened palm.
01:48If we're unable to do something to save that palm,
01:51then our whole project will have failed.
02:00John was the first member of Kew's staff to visit Madagascar
02:04and was instrumental in establishing a permanent base in the capital.
02:08He's now hoping this last adventure will be a fitting end to his life.
02:13I've been coming to Madagascar since 1986
02:16and have managed to come here almost every year.
02:20This is the most amazing country.
02:22It has to be my favourite destination anywhere in the world.
02:26There is still so much more work to be done biologically here
02:30and the palms are still very incompletely known.
02:33We continue to make lots more discoveries.
02:44Now, I think we're just here now on the bend of the road.
03:01In 1992, there were about eight trees of Dipsis ambusteri just down here
03:07and we watched that population disappear.
03:10In fact, there was a landslide and three palms, mature palms, disappeared.
03:15In 1994, there were still two good palms there.
03:18Last time I went down, there was nothing.
03:23This is where Dipsis ambusteri used to be.
03:26This is a special palm for John.
03:29He was instrumental in identifying it as a previously unknown species.
03:33He's hoping to find that something might have survived here against the odds.
03:38This is the little gulch where the first population of Dipsis ambusteri used to be.
03:43You can see there are landslides on the far side.
03:46There were three or four individuals there.
03:49And then, I think the rest were cut down.
03:52It was Henk Beintje who first discovered it here.
03:55I came down with him in 1992 and that's when we made good collections of it.
03:59And it was also when we realised it was an undescribed species.
04:03So, 1992, it was unknown to science.
04:07We published the name in 1995 and here we are in 2003.
04:13The palm is extinct here and may very well be extinct in the next locality.
04:19So, how does it make you feel returning to a place like this?
04:22Helpless and also somewhat guilty because I have watched it disappear and have done nothing to save it.
04:30The Royal Botanic Gardens queue has the largest and most diverse collection of living plants on the planet.
04:37The Royal Botanic Gardens queue has the largest and most diverse collection of living plants on the planet.
04:42Some are endangered, some no longer exist in the wild at all.
04:46An exhibition, a scientific research, a museum, a museum of the world,
04:51a museum of the world's most ancient plants,
04:54a museum of the world's most ancient plants,
04:57a museum of the world's most ancient plants,
05:00a museum of the world's most ancient plants,
05:03some no longer exist in the wild at all.
05:05An exhibition, a scientific research and an ark,
05:09quietly conserving and protecting delicate species in a quickly changing world.
05:14And among the plants in the Princess of Wales Conservatory,
05:18for those with a sharp eye, is a mystery hidden among the tropical foliage.
05:23Solving the mystery leads behind the scenes in queue's lower nursery.
05:28Steve Kettley is keeper of the fern collection,
05:32a job he enjoys because when the ferns allow,
05:35he can quietly slip next door into his favourite place in queue.
05:39This is where Steve keeps his breeding cages,
05:43because in the quiet moments, Steve Kettley transforms from queue's fern man
05:47into queue's giant moth man extraordinaire.
05:51These are advanced caterpillars of the giant Atlas moth.
05:56It's the second largest caterpillar in the world and they breed very easily.
06:00You get a male and a female together and this is impossible for them not to make.
06:04There are two reasons actually why we're doing this.
06:06One is for young children. They like to see these butterflies flying around.
06:10In other words, they are part of customer attraction.
06:13But the other reason is a scientific one.
06:15It's to educate the public on the relationship between insects and plants.
06:19And most butterflies are very good pollinators of flowers and so are most moths.
06:24Today, Steve has a consignment of cocoons that are ready to hatch.
06:29He's visiting the Princess of Wales Conservatory in search of a warm, wet des res for giant moths.
06:37Plenty of support and also not too much clutter.
06:46These are the cocoons. They've already been strung out on a piece of wire.
06:50If you use string in this humid atmosphere,
06:53they could quite easily snap and then they will fall on the floor.
07:00Basically, they just look like shriveled up little onion barges.
07:05Even the cocoon stage, you know, is an air of mystery.
07:08You know, when people are sort of looking at these and they think,
07:10what on earth is going to come out of those?
07:13And when you actually see an adult hatch out, you think that's incredible, you know?
07:17Well, I think I've done everything I possibly can now with these
07:20and it's just a question of sitting back and waiting for them to hatch out.
07:24It's evening and a discerning public gathers at the orangery
07:28in anticipation of the annual plant auction,
07:31a prestigious event in which rare and unusual plants are offered to the highest bidder.
07:36It's a nerve-wracking occasion for Q,
07:39anxious to see plants go to a good home
07:42and even more anxious to see a good price coming in.
07:46I think it's worth a good £70.
07:48You tight-skinned...
07:50Some of you will pay probably £200 for that, I think.
07:53It's a class piece.
07:56One of the plants, a rare wingnut tree,
07:59already has a very determined prospective buyer,
08:02but he could be facing competition.
08:04It's lovely. I don't know if it's going to be a little bit expensive
08:07because it's known as a star plant, but we'll certainly have a look at this one.
08:10I make a strong bid for a lot of the plants
08:13because I like to encourage everyone to spend a lot of money here.
08:16We'd better start this at £50, at £50, £60 only.
08:20Helen Long is the general in charge of Operation Auction.
08:23She's now responsible for marshalling her troops
08:26to ensure everything goes according to plan.
08:32Yeah, move in.
08:37Stand there.
08:40Well done, Margaret. £80...
08:42Margaret has begun her self-appointed task of pushing up the prices.
08:47£90. One more, Margaret.
08:51£90. Thank you, sir.
08:54So far, so good.
08:56£130. She's gone again.
08:59£130. Are you done, Margaret?
09:02The trick is to know when to stop.
09:05£130.
09:10£140. Well done, Margaret.
09:13£150.
09:16Yes.
09:18The proceeds of the auction are going towards Kew's conservation work
09:22and every penny and pound counts.
09:26£155, it helps.
09:28£155.
09:30All counts.
09:32£155. Go on, £60, sir.
09:35£155.
09:37I think you may have it, Margaret.
09:39£155.
09:41All down to Margaret. Well done, Margaret.
09:43Well done, Margaret. £155.
09:45At Kew, we're very proud of our compost heaps.
09:48Tony Kirkham, head of the Arboricultural Unit,
09:51introduces one of the lots, a lorry load of Kew mulch.
09:55I would say the skip outside is a tenth of what you would receive.
09:59So if you've got a small garden, beware.
10:02We have a specimen here.
10:05One we made earlier.
10:09Oh, good grief, look at her.
10:11£320.
10:13£350.
10:15£380 is behind you now, madam.
10:17To the gentleman at £380, coming in at four, madam.
10:20You can always have it delivered to someone else's door.
10:28£380, it's with the gentleman.
10:33OK, well, all the plants tonight are stars,
10:36but this terror carrier is my star for tonight.
10:40All plant collectors would like to see this in the wild.
10:43It's time for the wingnut tree to be auctioned,
10:46and Helen's would-be purchaser has arrived.
10:49£180, £180, £180.
10:52£190, £200, £220.
10:54Back to you, madam.
10:56£240 with the lady.
10:58£260 to you, sir.
11:00£260.
11:02£280.
11:04£280, £280.
11:06£300.
11:08£320.
11:10£320.
11:12Keep going, madam.
11:14£350.
11:16Margaret's in, £380 standing.
11:19Star lot of the night.
11:21£380.
11:23£400, thank you, sir.
11:25£420.
11:27£420.
11:33Some of them have got homes to go to.
11:35£425.
11:37£430, sir.
11:39£450, well done, sir.
11:41£450.
11:43That shows you, madam.
11:45£450.
11:47Any advance?
11:49£450, £450.
11:51All yours, sir.
11:53Thank you, £450.
11:55A success for Helen's mystery buyer and for Helen.
11:59I'm pleased.
12:01But this rather special tree won't be going in his garden.
12:06My father collects walnuts.
12:08He's, I think, got about 60 to 70 different species
12:11and he particularly wanted this tree.
12:13He's been trying to get it for a number of years.
12:16He was hoping for the tree.
12:18In fact, he sort of said,
12:20I wasn't allowed home until I got the tree.
12:22So that is a successful night.
12:26Just through the corner.
12:28Just loading up the walnut tree.
12:30Christopher Bond was allowed home
12:32and the tree joined what's now a comprehensive collection
12:35of walnut and wingnut trees.
12:37A successful end to a long day.
12:47The Dipsy Sambustry Palm has been recorded
12:50in one other location in Madagascar.
12:52There are recent reports say that the palm may have now vanished.
12:56John's on the way to find out.
12:59SHOUTING
13:02It's possible it is still here.
13:04So we're just going to go on round the next couple of bends
13:08and hope it's there.
13:11But as John gets close,
13:13signs of the destruction of the forest are everywhere.
13:18This is where it is.
13:21Those rocks over there was where we used to see it.
13:27Maybe we stop here.
13:29Arriving at the location of what was once the main population
13:32of the Dipsy Sambustry Palm,
13:34John could hardly imagine the shocking sight awaiting him.
13:38The land's been cut and cleared
13:41for patches of corn cultivation
13:45and there used to be palms scattered all over here.
13:49It looks as if there isn't a single one left.
13:58Dipsy Sambustry used to grow in this area
14:03and it's quite clearly gone
14:05through the cutting of vegetation and the firing of it.
14:09It's very upsetting to see this.
14:12The short-term gain of cultivation is so temporary
14:20but of course it's part of the livelihood of the local people.
14:24It annoys you, doesn't it?
14:25It annoys me very much.
14:27But it's as if people are pyromaniacs.
14:30There are parts of the plateau where this pyromania
14:33has been going on for centuries
14:35where all that there is left is very, very poor grassland,
14:40extremely low in diversity
14:43and almost entirely introduced species of grasses.
14:47A Malagasy member of Kew's staff, Tina,
14:50has been talking to local people
14:52to explain John's seemingly hopeless mission.
14:55Unexpectedly, they have some very good news for her.
14:58Tina has discovered what may very well be
15:02another population of the palm.
15:04And if it isn't?
15:05Then who knows, we may be dealing with yet another palm
15:08and if it isn't, then Dipsy Sambustry
15:10really looks as if it's gone from the wild,
15:14which is pretty awful.
15:18Back at Kew, in the palm house,
15:21Emma has a visitor.
15:23James Kay works in the Kew archives
15:25and has unearthed some pictures
15:27that haven't seen the light of day for many years.
15:30A superb collection of photographs.
15:32This is a lily house about 1915.
15:34Oh, wow.
15:36The water lily house was built about 150 years ago
15:39and it was built specifically to house the giant water lily,
15:42which had been discovered and brought back from South America
15:45and eventually they were able to successfully germinate seeds
15:49and grow the Victoria,
15:51so they actually wanted to have a special house
15:53to grow the Victoria in.
15:55And that's where it grew for a number of years,
15:57but not terribly successfully.
15:59Because of that, it was moved to a tank in the previous site
16:02of the Princess of Wales Conservatory
16:04and it would come and go, it would be planted in there
16:06for a few years and then go again.
16:08But when I started at Kew as a student in 1996,
16:11there was a lotus plant growing in the centre
16:13of the water lily house.
16:15And having been a student already
16:17at the Princess of Wales Conservatory,
16:19I'd already been attacked by the bug known as Victoria.
16:22And so when I got my job here,
16:24that was one of the first things I wanted to do,
16:26see if we could put it back and if it would grow.
16:29Emma's been visiting her precious Victoria lily
16:32at least once a day,
16:34but hers isn't the only giant lily at Kew.
16:36A colleague, Mike, is also growing one
16:38in the Princess of Wales Conservatory,
16:40but Emma's anxious that the famous lily house
16:43has the biggest and best.
16:45By flowering lilies from all corners of the tropics,
16:48the star of the show is already growing nicely.
16:51I love this house. This is my favourite house.
16:54And the Victoria is...
16:56It's an addiction, I think.
16:58It's one of those plants that once you work with it
17:01in any way, it just captivates you, really.
17:04And have you been down to see Mike's?
17:06Yeah, I've walked through the Princess of Wales Conservatory.
17:11It's not as big as ours, I have to say.
17:14But then I don't think he talks to his Victoria
17:16the way that I talk to mine, so...
17:19What we need to do now, we've got growth starting,
17:21we need to actually get feeding them as well,
17:23cos they're quite hungry plants.
17:25So the plan today is to make some feed balls
17:28and then we can feed her and that will get her
17:30producing even more leaves faster
17:33and hopefully better than Mike's.
17:35As summer gets into its stride,
17:38the sun shines and temperatures soar
17:41to a record-breaking high.
17:43In every corner of Kew, flowers bloom bigger and better
17:47than they have for many years.
17:49And the weather isn't just good for plants,
17:51it's also good for business.
17:53The Kews get longer, but the rewards are worth it.
17:57Colleen, we've got loam in the wheelbarrow
17:59and our magic secret ingredient is bloodfish and bone.
18:02Meanwhile, just outside the lily house,
18:04Emma is preparing to make her leaf-boosting feed balls.
18:08And then you just need to add enough water, really,
18:10just to make a bit of a sort of doughy consistency, really.
18:15OK? OK.
18:17But mixing through thoroughly your bloodfish and bone
18:20in with the loam, cos we don't want to have pockets
18:22of large amounts of feed.
18:24A lot of people think, oh, yeah, OK, you feed your water lilies,
18:27but then they don't actually make the connection
18:29with how you do it, cos if you were to go and think,
18:32oh, well, I'll get plant food and water it in
18:34as you would with any other plants,
18:36you're adding it to the water rather than to the soil.
18:38And that's when you get the problem with your algae and things.
18:41So if you just make yourself little balls up
18:43and just stick them on the tray, and what we'll do
18:45is just leave them outside in the sun to dry.
18:47If you find they're not holding together enough,
18:49just add a little bit more loam.
18:51That will just give it enough consistency.
19:09Then just bake in the sun for an hour or two
19:12and success is guaranteed.
19:14Hopefully.
19:16But success is less guaranteed for John in Madagascar.
19:21Tina, you're going to go and see the president of the village
19:26to negotiate going to look at the palm.
19:30We can't just arrive in the middle of a village
19:33as a group of strangers and go off into the forest
19:36as a group of strangers and go off and do our own thing
19:39without asking permission from the local community.
19:42How would anybody in Britain feel if suddenly
19:45a great party of Malagasy arrived in a bus,
19:48leapt out and went tromping over the countryside?
19:50They don't want to know what was that.
19:52So that's really what we're doing here.
19:55The idea is we're negotiating with the village headman
19:59to get permission and to get a guide to take us there,
20:02and then we're going to go off.
20:05OK, yes. Thank you.
20:14Permission granted.
20:16Two village elders are nominated to travel with the party as guides.
20:22They take the vehicle off the road
20:25and onto a track that doesn't feature on any map
20:28and one the palm hunters have not come across before.
20:36Part of the time I imagine I can understand what they're saying,
20:40but I can't understand anything at all.
20:42You're none the wiser.
20:44None the wiser.
20:46There is a palm here, but we don't know
20:49whether it's Dipsy's Ambustry or Dipsy's Decipiens.
20:52We'll see soon enough, I think.
20:59The funny thing is, I would have expected to see it in the forest
21:03where we stopped earlier.
21:11In the lily house, it's time for the feed balls
21:14to get to work on the giant lily.
21:23We're going to go and feed Victoria.
21:29Because we put this black dye in the water,
21:31you can't always see where you're going very easily.
21:35There's a bit of a drop here, so this is where I normally trip up.
21:39Where I'm standing now is the edge of the pot.
21:45There's a huge pot which is full of loam
21:48and that's what Victoria's growing in.
21:50The crown, the growing point, is just where my hand is
21:53and there's a new leaf forming there.
21:55So for the first few weeks that we start feeding,
21:58this is the first feed for her this season.
22:00We'll actually push the food balls nearer the crown
22:03because the root system won't actually have developed that far out.
22:07It's quite interesting when we empty the Victoria at the end of the year,
22:11the roots don't go down a terribly long way.
22:13They're actually more around the periphery
22:15to a depth of about so far really.
22:17So we don't need to push them really, really deep.
22:19We just need to get them in the loam,
22:21then they'll absorb water, break up,
22:23nutrients will be released, we'll get bigger leaves.
22:26That's the plan.
22:28So I just basically push them into the loam.
22:34In the Princess of Wales Conservatory,
22:36the latest generation of giant moths has emerged overnight
22:40and is stretching its wings in the warmth.
22:43Steve Kettley has been called to meet his newest little bundles of joy.
22:49Oh yes, look at that.
22:51It's a female that's just recently hatched out
22:54Hopefully I'll be able to get it so that it doesn't fly off.
22:58Oh yes.
23:02That's the best, that's the correct way of picking up these
23:05so that they don't get damaged.
23:11Oh, look at that. Perfect.
23:25Giant moth
23:36Released to appeal to children, the giant moths are always a big hit.
23:40Yes, this is a giant atlas moth.
23:43Huge.
23:44From South East Asia. That's a female.
23:47Some of them are even bigger than that.
23:50I've hatched females out before and they've got wings far bigger than that.
23:53They're really colourful because normally moths are just like grey.
23:56They look like spray paint.
23:57Yeah, a lot of people have got the wrong idea about moths.
23:59They think they're all dull and uninteresting
24:01but some of the tropical species are very interesting.
24:04Hold on.
24:06They're not so nervous as butterflies.
24:09Hopefully it will stay put.
24:11Oh yes.
24:12It just sats on your hand.
24:14It would be very difficult to keep a butterfly on the palm of your hand like that.
24:19Look at all the different colours.
24:21It looks furry.
24:23Oh, look.
24:24How long exactly do they live for?
24:26About a week.
24:27A week?
24:28A week and a week and a half.
24:30The caterpillar stage is much longer
24:32and they can spend up to nine months in a cocoon before they hatch out.
24:35So this part of the life cycle is a very short part, really.
24:39Shame.
24:41And in that short period of time they may lay eggs and die.
24:52In another corner of the conservatory,
24:55Emma's checking on her lily's rival.
24:59I'm not going to worry about that really, am I?
25:04I'm sure it will get going.
25:10No, I mean, technically this should grow bigger than the cruziana which we've got
25:13but at the moment I can revel in the moment that...
25:16The guides lead the palm hunters on a challenging hike for over an hour.
25:21Eventually, John comes to a wide patch of mountain rainforest,
25:25untouched and, until now, unknown to the plant hunters.
25:33Yes.
25:34I've got it.
25:35I've got it.
25:36I've got it.
25:37I've got it.
25:38I've got it.
25:39I've got it.
25:40I've got it.
25:41I've got it.
25:42I've got it.
25:43I've got it.
25:45Yes.
25:46Yes.
25:48There it is.
25:49Yeah, it's definitely Dipsy's Ambustry.
25:53Ah, here's more of it.
25:59Look, there are a couple of adults down there.
26:02It's it, isn't it?
26:04In the forest canopy up there, there are a couple of adults
26:07and it's definitely a Dipsy's Ambustry.
26:11How are you, sir?
26:13Yes.
26:14Really?
26:15Yes.
26:16It's Ambustry.
26:17Yes.
26:19That's wonderful.
26:20Excellent.
26:25Really?
26:26Hey, there are some fabulous plants of it.
26:34It's Dipsy's Ambustry.
26:36When I saw the site this morning,
26:39I began to think that maybe we had lost it.
26:41The gloom of seeing that original locality
26:44without any sign of the palm
26:46and now we've actually got it growing in the forest.
26:49And the population's healthy
26:51because there are lots and lots of seedlings and young juveniles
26:54and there's also a seed source.
26:56And if necessary, we could reintroduce.
26:59I think much better is to try to protect it here in the wild.
27:05John wants to analyse a leaf in queue
27:08but this time he isn't going to be the one to get it.
27:13Jimmy is going to climb the tree
27:16using a method I learnt in Hawaii in 1999.
27:20And Jimmy hasn't had much practice with this
27:23so we'll have to see how it goes.
27:25It's absolutely safe.
27:30The trouble is I'm coming near to retirement.
27:32I've only got 60 more months to go before I stop being paid.
27:36When you get to 60, bones start aching.
27:39I'm still relatively fit
27:41but we need to have somebody younger doing this job.
27:44So it gives me real pleasure to see Jimmy really interested in their job.
27:51It's got to go on
27:52simply because there is so much more to be discovered
27:55about this wonderful family.
27:57As the specimen leaf is cut,
27:59John's mission in Madagascar is over.
28:02But for the local people, it's just the start of their job
28:05to ensure the survival of this rare palm.
28:08It's been an excellent day.
28:10We've established that Dipsy's Embu tree is not extinct
28:13and there's a good healthy population here.
28:16There are not very many trees and it's a small patch of forest
28:19but it's still here, which is excellent.
28:22And Jimmy's done a sterling job in climbing it to get the specimen.
28:26It's terrific. Very pleased.
28:29Next time, it's the most crucial day of the year
28:33and everyone is on tenterhooks
28:35as Kew is nominated as a World Heritage Site.
28:39Victoria keeps her lady-in-waiting far into the night
28:43and the first effects of the long, hot summer of 2003
28:47begin to take their toll.
28:50Want to know more about Kew?
28:52Then log on to the BBC website.
28:58.