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4 unusual facts about Robert Fortune


Buddleja lindleyana

lindleyana was collected and introduced to western cultivation in 1843 by Robert Fortune, who named it for the botanist John Lindley.

Lonicera fragrantissima

It was brought to the attention of western gardeners by Scottish plant hunter Robert Fortune, who was plant hunting in China for the Royal Horticultural Society.

Torreya grandis

Although known and utilized by the Chinese for centuries, the first European to discover Torreya grandis was Robert Fortune, who was searching for seeds while he was hiking in the mountains of NE Zhejiang in search of seeds, particularly those of "golden pine-tree" (Larix kaempferi).

Wardian case

In Wardian cases, Robert Fortune shipped to British India 20,000 tea plants smuggled out of Shanghai, China, to begin the tea plantations of Assam.


Forsythia

The Scottish plant-hunter Robert Fortune "discovered" it— in a mandarin's garden of the coastal city of Chusan (Zhoushan)— before he ever saw it growing wild in the mountains in Chusan's province, Zhejiang.


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