Date of Birth - 1813

Fortune served an apprenticeship in the gardens of Kelloe. He took a post at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh for two and a half years then left for London where he became superintendent of the indoor plant section of the Horticulture Society's garden in Chiswick. He impressed the H.S. as both gardener and botanist, and he was appointed to go to China to collect plants.

In July 1843 he arrived in China - ‘to collect seeds and plants of ornamental or useful kind, not already cultivated in Britain’ as well as to obtain information on Chinese gardening and agriculture together with the nature and climate and it's influence on vegetation. He was provided with a list of items to find including the peaches of Peking grown in the emperors garden and said to weigh 2lbs each, tea of different qualities, double yellow roses and the true mandarin orange.

He was generally well received but did experience hostility and was threatened at knife point. He found the southern districts of China had already been ransacked so there was little hope of finding novelties. Further north he found hills covered in Azaleas and Buddleia, and near Shanghai on the rich plains of the Yang-tse he collected Cryptomeria japonica and Anemone japonica, many Chrysanthemum sp. and tree peonies.

In March 1844 he went north again to the Azalea-clad mountains of Chusan, collecting Daphne sp., Wistaria sp., Weigela sp., Arundinaria sp. and various other plants. At the same time he visited the tea growing district of Ningpo, where he also discovered a double yellow rose. In 1845 on his return to Foo-chow-foo and black tea districts he was attacked by pirates.

In 1847 he published a book which detailed Chinese gardening, agriculture and the history of tea culture. He studied the whole process of tea making whilst based at a temple in the heart of the tea region, and discovered that black and green teas were made from the same plant. In his book he also described the art of dwarfing trees.

1846 he was appointed the Curator of Chelsea Botanic Garden. Then in 1848 he was commissioned to got to China again to collect tea seedlings. 1851 he arrived in Calcutta with nearly 2000 young tea plants and 17,000 germinating seeds and took them to the north west provinces of India - laying the foundation of the Indian tea trade.

Further explorations in China included studying the process of silk making and being in the service of the American government . He also made several trips to Japan where he was particularly interested in Chrysanthemums with a view to introducing new varieties to Britain. Much of his travel experience was published and had great insights into the agriculture, horticulture and ways of life in each country. Eventually he retired and took to farming in Scotland.

Countries visited: Mostly China, Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong, Philippines.

Robert Fortune Main Plant Introductions:

Each trip enriched Britain's gardens and greenhouses with plants such as Primula japonica, Chrysanthemum Pompon Section, Deutzia scabra, Azalea sp., Camelia reticulata, Rhododendron sp., Forsythia and Jasmium officinale.

• Buddleja lindleyana
• Camelia ‘Robert Fortune’
• Camellia ‘Captain Rawes’
• Chionanthus retusus
• Clerodendrum bungei
• Corylopsis pauciflora
• Daphne genkwa
• Jasminum nudiflorum
• Lonicera standishii
• Pinus bungeana
• Pseudolarix amabilis
• Rhododendron degronianum subsp heptamerum
• Rhododendron fortunei
• Rhododendron ovatum
• Syringa oblata
• Taxus cuspidata
• Thuja standishii
• Trachycarpus fortunei