[Science] I went hunting for willow seeds in the home of Winnie-the-Pooh – AI

Searching for seedsRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew Winnie-the-Pooh famously scoured Hundred Acre Wood in search of honey. In Ashdown Forest in Sussex, the wood’s real-life inspiration, Alice Hudson and Ian Willey are hunting the gorse and bracken for something less sweet, but equally vital. The researchers from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew are seeking willow seeds to collect and deposit in an underground vault a few kilometres away. The plan is to preserve them as an insurance policy against future invaders or evolving threats. “We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future,” says Willey. The willow …