Museum of Economic Botany

The Museum of Economic Botany, which opened on 27 May 1881, Its first director was Richard Schomburgk, who drew on his international network of like-minded botanists to gather a wealth of content. The building also included an annexe, the Herbarium, which housed over 18,000 dried plants. In 2009, oil and gas company Santos made a A$2 million investment in the Adelaide Botanic Garden, which gave it naming rights to the museum until 2029. The group called on the Adelaide Botanic Garden to drop Santos as a sponsor and fully divest from the fossil fuel industry. In 2023, the South Australian arts community signed an open letter on the same issue, In September 2025 the "Santos" part of the name was removed from the building. A spokesperson for the museum said that it was looking at new partnership opportunities that better align with their current strategic plan. ==Description==

The Museum of Economic Botany is located in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens in Adelaide, South Australia. It is the sole remaining museum of its kind in Australia. The museum displays a permanent collection exhibiting the practical, medicinal, and economic use of plant materials. The plant materials on display include essential oils, gums and resins, fibre plants, dyes, food and beverage plants, and others. it was displaying over 3000 specimens, representing 99% of collected material. It also regularly hosts contemporary art exhibitions, such as Tamar Dean's photographic exhibition as part of the Adelaide Festival in 2018. ==Architecture==

The Greek-Revival building was explicitly designed to follow the example of Kew Gardens. Construction of the building began in 1879 and finished in 1881, costing £2900. It had 16 windows each high, designed to allow in a large amount of sunlight. It underwent restoration from 2009 by Grieve Gillett Architects, starting with the interiors and then working on the exterior after the museum was reopened to the public. The refurbishment earnt the 2012 Australian Institute of Architects (SA) David Saunders Award for Heritage Architecture. == References ==