Thousands of plant species 'undiscovered in cupboards'
More than 35,000 new species of flowering plants may be lying undiscovered in cupboards around the world, it is claimed.
A UK team of botanists looked at how long it takes for new species collected in the field and stored in plants vaults called 'herbaria' to be identified.
The found it often took decades, and in one case took 210 years.
They concluded that of the 70,000 flowering plants that experts believe are yet to be found, over half may already be in collections, awaiting identification.
BBC science reporter Neil Bowdler went to the world's largest 'herbarium' at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to find out more.