At the Hortus Botanicus of Leiden, a rarely seen set of botanical illustrations, the Libri Picturati, formed the focus. This amazing collection consists of 16 books holding 1200 botanical watercolours. The exquisite beauty of the paintings, coupled with their accurate and detailed depiction of plant species is a testimony to the early links between artists and scientists in the 16^th century. The Libri Picturati collection is currently held in the Jagiellon library in Cracow,Poland, but they were originally probably produced in Belgium. The eminent 16^th century and early 17^th century botanist Carolus Clusius has most probably been involved in the production of these watercolours. The Hortus Botanicus in Leiden houses a magnificent restoration of Clusius’s garden, facilitated by the discovery of detailed landscape and planting schemes drawn up by Clusius whilst working in Leiden. The Leiden participants have been able to study the relationship between the Clusiusgarden and the Libri Picturati as well as exploring links to the early tulip and bulbous plant introductions in Europe.

In The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew the botanical library , botanical illustration and living plant collections offer unparalelled resources for information on all of the plants involved. As a major authority on plant names and with expertise on as wide a range of topics as botanical illustration , horticulture, conservation, economic botany / ethnobotany and systematics, Kew can lend its botanical authority to the project, as well as providing the source of the ‘British’ plants selected. Kew will also supply most of the images of the living plants.