12 Facts About Robert Fortune

Robert Fortune was a Scottish botanist, plant hunter and traveller, best known for introducing around 250 new ornamental plants, mainly from China, but Japan, into the gardens of Britain, Australia, and North America.

Robert Fortune played a role in the development of the tea industry in India in the 19th century.

Robert Fortune imported Japanese chestnuts into the United States, which led to the introduction of chestnut blight to the country 24 years after his death.

Robert Fortune's travels resulted in the introduction to Europe, Australia, and North America of many flowers and plants.

Robert Fortune worked in China for several years in the period from 1843 to 1861.

Similar to other European travellers of the period, such as Walter Medhurst, Robert Fortune disguised himself as a Chinese merchant during several, but not all, of his journeys beyond the newly established treaty port areas.

Robert Fortune travelled to some areas of China that had seldom been visited by Europeans, including remote areas of Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangsu provinces.

Robert Fortune employed many means to obtain plants and seedlings from local tea growers, although this was some 150 years before international biodiversity laws recognised state ownership of such natural resources.

Robert Fortune is known for his use of Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward's portable Wardian cases to sustain the plants.

Robert Fortune related his travels in a series of books.

Robert Fortune died in London in 1880, and is buried in Brompton Cemetery.

Robert Fortune is credited with the introduction of a large number of plants, shrubs, and trees to Europe from China.