Fortune was born in Kelloe, Berwickshire. He was employed in the botanical garden in Edinburgh, and later in the Royal Horticultural Society's garden at Chiswick, and following the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 was sent out by the Society to collect plants in China.
His travels resulted in the introduction to Europe of many beautiful flowers; but another journey, undertaken in 1848 on behalf of the East India Company, had much more important consequences, resulting in the successful introduction of 20,000 tea plants to India. In subsequent journeys he visited Formosa and Japan, and described the culture of the silkworm and the manufacture of rice. He introduced many trees, shrubs and flowers to the West, including the cumquat, the double yellow rose and many varieties of tree peonies, azaleas and chrysanthemums. The incidents of his travels were related in a succession of interesting books. He died in London.
This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.