Santos Museum of Economic Botany
The Santos Museum of Economic Botany, located in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, displays a permanent collection exhibiting the practical, medicinal and economic use of plant materials.It was inspired by the museum in London's Kew Gardens, which opened in 1847, the Adelaide Museum opened in 1881 and is the sole remaining museum of its kind in Australia. Upon opening, the Museum of Economic Botany displayed 3500 objects specifically designed to show the link between the raw material and the final consumer product. It currently displays over 3000 specimens, representing 99% of collected material, and regularly hosts contemporary art exhibitions, such as Tamar Dean's photographic exhibition as part of the 2018 Adelaide Festival Biennial. Instigated and developed by its first Director Richard Schomburgk, who drew on his international network of like-minded botanists to gather a wealth of content, the plant materials on display range from essential oils, gums and resins, fibre plants, dyes, food and beverage plants, fibres etc.With its Greek-revival style facade, the Museum was listed on the now-defunct Register of the National Estate on 21 October 1980 and on the South Australian Heritage Register on 23 September 1982.