author

Robert Fortune

1813–1880

A Scottish plant hunter and travel writer, he helped reshape Victorian gardens and played a major role in moving tea plants from China to India. His journeys through China made him one of the best-known botanical explorers of the 19th century.

1 Audiobook

Three Years' Wanderings in the Northern Provinces of China Including a visit to the tea, silk, and cotton countries; with an account of the agriculture and horticulture of the Chinese, new plants, etc.

Three Years' Wanderings in the Northern Provinces of China Including a visit to the tea, silk, and cotton countries; with an account of the agriculture and horticulture of the Chinese, new plants, etc.

by Robert Fortune

About the author

Born in Scotland in 1812, Robert Fortune trained as a gardener and worked in horticulture before building a reputation as a plant collector. He traveled in China on expeditions connected with the Royal Horticultural Society and later the East India Company, at a time when Western knowledge of Chinese plants was still limited.

Fortune became famous for introducing many ornamental plants to Britain, including chrysanthemums, tree peonies, azaleas, and the Japanese anemone. He is also closely linked to the transfer of tea plants and tea-growing expertise from China to India, a story that made his name especially prominent in histories of botany, empire, and global trade.

He also wrote popular travel books based on his experiences in East Asia, blending botanical observation with adventure and firsthand description. Fortune died in 1880, but his work left a lasting mark on gardening, plant collecting, and the history of tea.