Kew APIpowo.science.kew.org ↗
Search Kew's Plants of the World Online and retrieve full taxon records — names, synonyms, native range, lifeform, IUCN status, and image galleries.
What is the Kew API?
The POWO API provides 2 endpoints for querying Kew's Plants of the World Online, covering over 1.3 million plant name records across families, genera, species, and infraspecific taxa. Use search_plants to find taxa by scientific name, common name, or free text, then pass the returned taxon_id to get_plant to retrieve a full record including synonyms, child taxa, native range, lifeform, climate, and a gallery of labeled images.
curl -X GET 'https://api.parse.bot/scraper/1578e921-fc4a-4aed-9feb-14e0159c42a7/search_plants?query=Quercus&per_page=5' \ -H 'X-API-Key: $PARSE_API_KEY'
Typed, relational, agent-ready
A generated client with real types, enums, and the links between objects — the structure a flat JSON response can't carry. Autocompletes in your editor and reads cleanly to coding agents.
- Fully typed · autocompletes
- Objects link to objects
- Typed errors & pagination
Typed Python client. Set up the SDK in your uv project, then pull this API’s typed client:
uv add parse-sdk uv run parse init uv run parse add --marketplace powo-science-kew-org-api
uv run parse add --marketplace pulls a pinned snapshot of this canonical API — it won’t change underneath you. To customize it, subscribe and swap to your own copy.
"""Walkthrough: search POWO for oaks, drill into the top hit's full record."""
from parse_apis.powo_science_kew_org_api import Powo, SortOrder, PlantNotFound
client = Powo()
# Search for oaks, limited to species, sorted by relevance.
for hit in client.plant_summaries.search(
query="Quercus", rank="species", sort=SortOrder.RELEVANCE, limit=5
):
print(hit.name, hit.author, "—", hit.snippet)
# Drill into the first accepted species via the summary→detail navigation.
first = client.plant_summaries.search(
query="Quercus robur", accepted_only=True, limit=1
).first()
if first is not None:
plant = first.details()
print(plant.name, plant.authors, "— rank:", plant.rank)
print("native range:", plant.native_range)
print("lifeform:", plant.lifeform, "| climate:", plant.climate)
print("images:", plant.image_count)
# Walk classification hierarchy and synonyms from the full record.
for ancestor in plant.classification:
print(" classification:", ancestor.name, ancestor.rank)
for syn in plant.synonyms[:3]:
print(" synonym:", syn.name, syn.author)
# Point lookup by a known taxon_id, with typed error handling.
try:
oak = client.plants.get(taxon_id="urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:304293-2")
print(oak.name, "—", oak.family, "— descriptions:", len(oak.descriptions))
except PlantNotFound as e:
print("not found:", e.taxon_id)
print("exercised: plant_summaries.search / PlantSummary.details / plants.get")
Searches POWO for plant names (families, genera, species, infraspecific taxa) matching a free-text query such as a scientific name, common name or any word from a description. Returns one page of result summaries with the taxon_id usable by get_plant, acceptance status, a text snippet showing where the query matched, and up to three preview images. Optional filters restrict by taxonomic rank, accepted names only, and taxa with images; sort is relevance by default or alphabetical by name. Pagination is cursor based: each page returns next_cursor when has_more is true; pass it unchanged as cursor with the same query, filters and sort to fetch the next page (omit cursor for the first page). total_results is the site's match count for the query and filters; total_pages is the site's page count at the requested per_page. Rank filter accepts one or more of family, genus, species, infraspecific as a comma-separated list. A query with no matches returns an empty results list with total_results 0.
| Param | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| rank | string | Comma-separated taxonomic ranks to include: family, genus, species, infraspecific (e.g. species or family,genus). Omitted = all ranks. |
| sort | string | Result ordering. |
| queryrequired | string | Free-text search term, e.g. a scientific name, genus or common name. |
| cursor | string | Opaque continuation token from a previous response's next_cursor. Omitted = first page. |
| per_page | integer | Results per page, clamped to a maximum of 100. |
| has_images | boolean | true restricts results to taxa that have at least one image. Omitted or false = all taxa. |
| accepted_only | boolean | true restricts results to accepted names (excludes synonyms). Omitted or false = all names. |
{
"type": "object",
"fields": {
"results": "array of taxon summaries: taxon_id (use with get_plant), name, author, rank, family, kingdom, accepted (boolean), accepted_name (name of the accepted taxon when the result is a synonym, else null), snippet (plain-text match context), images (array of {caption, thumbnail_url, image_url}, at most three previews)",
"has_more": "boolean, true when another page may be fetched with next_cursor",
"per_page": "integer, page size actually used",
"next_cursor": "string continuation token for the next page, or null when has_more is false",
"total_pages": "integer, site-reported page count at the requested per_page",
"total_results": "integer, site-reported number of matches for the query and filters"
},
"sample": {
"data": {
"results": [
{
"name": "Quercus",
"rank": "Genus",
"author": "L.",
"family": "Fagaceae",
"images": [
{
"caption": "Quercus rubra (red oak)",
"image_url": "https://storage.googleapis.com/powop-assets/kew_profiles/KPPCONT_056240_fullsize.jpg",
"thumbnail_url": "https://storage.googleapis.com/powop-assets/kew_profiles/KPPCONT_056240_thumbnail.jpg"
}
],
"kingdom": "Plantae",
"snippet": "Common Name : gall nuts",
"accepted": true,
"taxon_id": "urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:325819-2",
"accepted_name": null
},
{
"name": "Crepidiastrum quercus",
"rank": "Species",
"author": "(H.Lév. & Vaniot) Nakai",
"family": "Asteraceae",
"images": [],
"kingdom": "Plantae",
"snippet": "Species : quercus",
"accepted": false,
"taxon_id": "urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:199616-1",
"accepted_name": "Crepidiastrum lanceolatum"
}
],
"has_more": true,
"per_page": 5,
"next_cursor": "AoMIQUc8SDs2MDBBc3RlcmFjZWFlTGFjdHVjYXF1ZXJjdXMsVGF4b25fMjY5MjI1",
"total_pages": 1057,
"total_results": 5282
},
"status": "success"
}
}About the Kew API
Searching taxa
The search_plants endpoint accepts a free-text query and several optional filters. The rank parameter accepts a comma-separated list (family, genus, species, infraspecific) so you can restrict results to a single taxonomic level. Set accepted_only=true to exclude synonyms, or has_images=true to return only taxa with gallery images. Results are paginated: each response includes total_results, total_pages, has_more, and a next_cursor token to fetch the following page. Each result summary in the results array includes taxon_id, name, author, rank, family, kingdom, and accepted (boolean).
Full taxon records
Passing a taxon_id (in the form urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:<number>-<number>) to get_plant returns the complete POWO record for that taxon. Key fields include rank, authors, accepted, lifeform (e.g. tree, herb), climate, synonyms (array with taxon_id, name, author, rank, taxonomic_status), and child_taxa (accepted immediate descendants). The images array contains image_url, caption, photographer (null when uncredited), and depicted_taxon (a nested taxon_id/name pair when the image shows a different but related taxon).
Coverage and data provenance
POWO is maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and draws on the International Plant Names Index (IPNI) for name identifiers. Taxonomic status values include Accepted, Synonym, and Unresolved. The taxon_id field uses the IPNI LSID namespace, so records can be cross-referenced with other IPNI-compatible datasets. Fields like lifeform and climate return the string 'Unknown' when Kew has not recorded a value for that taxon, so consumers should handle that sentinel explicitly.
The Kew API is a managed, monitored endpoint for powo.science.kew.org — not a raw scraper you maintain. Every endpoint is automatically health-checked on a schedule, and when powo.science.kew.org changes and a check fails, the API is automatically queued for repair and re-verified. It is built to keep working as the site underneath it changes.
This isn't an official powo.science.kew.org API — it's an independent, maintained REST wrapper over public data. Where the source has no official API (or only a limited one), Parse gives you a stable contract over a source that never promised one, and keeps it current. Need a new endpoint or field? You can revise it yourself in plain English and the agent rebuilds it against the live site in minutes — contributing the change back to the shared API is free.
Will this API break when the source site changes?+
Is this an official API from the source site?+
Can I fix or extend this API myself if I need a new endpoint or field?+
What happens if I call an endpoint that has an issue?+
- Resolve a plant's accepted name and authorship from a synonym or informal common name query
- Build a taxonomic browser by iterating child_taxa to walk family → genus → species hierarchies
- Enrich herbarium specimen records with native range, lifeform, and climate data from get_plant
- Filter search results to image-bearing accepted species for biodiversity illustration databases
- Cross-reference IPNI LSIDs between POWO records and other botanical datasets
- Compile synonym lists for pharmacognosy or food-safety databases that must track name changes
- Identify which species within a genus are accepted versus synonymised for taxonomic audit tools
| Tier | Price | Credits/month | Rate limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 200 | 5 req/min |
| Hobby | $30/mo | 1,000 | 20 req/min |
| Developer | $100/mo | 5,000 | 100 req/min |
| Team | $300/mo | 20,000 | 300 req/min |
| Company | $1,000/mo | 100,000 | 500 req/min |
Each endpoint has a fixed posted price per successful call — most fall between 1 and 10 credits — shown on this API's page before you run it. Exceeding the rate limit returns a 429 response. Authenticate with the X-API-Key header.
Does Plants of the World Online have an official developer API?+
What does get_plant return for synonyms and child taxa?+
synonyms array lists each synonym with its own taxon_id, name, author, rank, and taxonomic_status. The child_taxa array contains accepted direct descendants (e.g. species under a genus, subspecies under a species), each with the same five fields. Neither list is paginated — all items are returned in a single response.Does search_plants return full species descriptions or distribution data?+
taxon_id, name, author, rank, family, kingdom, and accepted. Full descriptive text, native range, lifeform, climate, and images are only available from get_plant using the taxon_id returned by search.Does the API expose vernacular (common) names per taxon?+
get_plant response does not include a dedicated vernacular-names field; common names can only influence search_plants results via the free-text query parameter. You can fork this API on Parse and revise it to add a vernacular-names field if the underlying POWO record exposes them.How does pagination work in search_plants?+
next_cursor opaque token and a has_more boolean. Pass next_cursor as the cursor parameter in your next request to retrieve the following page. The per_page parameter is clamped to a maximum of 100. When has_more is false, next_cursor is null and no further pages exist.