Alistair Watt, biographer of Robert Fortune, writes: We know that Robert Fortune during his expeditions commissioned many paintings of plants from Chinese artists. From his first expedition these went to the Horticultural Society in London but unfortunately these were all sold in the early 1850s when the Society faced financial ruin. The John Reeves paintings were recovered eventually but from my recent contact with the RHS, they do not have any in their collections or any knowledge of the whereabouts of the Fortune paintings. We recently found a set of 24 at Kew illustrating the tea making process that had been misidentified and which did come from Robert Fortune in 1850. My own feeling is that some of the handwriting on your paintings, but bearing in mind I have not seen many in good resolution, is by Fortune but the majority of the notations are by the esteemed botanist John Lindley (I have a number of his contemporary letters to Fortune). BUT, as I have said previously, I am not a handwriting expert. I just wonder if that set of yours was especially prepared by the Horticultural Society as a ‘thank you’ to Dent and Co the then owners of ‘Green Bank’ in Hong Kong. In his book of 1852, Visit to the Tea Districts of China and India, Robert Fortune, the famous plant hunter, wrote: In order to give some idea of a Hong Kong garden, I shall attempt to describe Messrs Dent’s, which was then in the possession and under the fostering care of Mr. Braine. This garden is situated on the sloping sides of a valley near the bottom of one of the numerous ravines, which are seen on the sides of the Hong Kong hills. It is near the centre of the new town of Victoria and is one of its greatest ornaments. On one side nothing is seen but rugged mountains and barren hills, but here the eye rests upon rich and luxuriant vegetation, the beauty of which is greatly enhanced by the contrast. Every one interested in Chinese plants has heard of the garden of the late Mr. Beale at Macao, a friend of Mr. Reeves and like him an ardent botanical collector. Nearly the whole of the English residents left Macao and went to Hong Kong when that island was ceded to England and all the plants in Mr. Beale’s garden which could be moved with safety were brought over in 1845 and planted in the garden at ‘Green Bank’. On entering the garden at its lower side there is a wide chunamed walk leading in a winding manner up the side of the hill, in the direction of the house. On each side of this walk are arranged the trees and shrubs indigenous to the country, as well as many of the fruits, all of which grow most luxuriantly. Ficus nitida, the Chinese banyan, grows on the right-hand side and promises soon to form a beautiful tree. This is one of the most valuable trees for ornamental purposes met with in the south of China. It grows rapidly with but little care, its foliage is of a glossy green colour and it soon affords an agreeable shade from the unfierce rays of the sun, which renders it peculiarly valuable in a place like Hong Kong. The India-rubber tree Ficus elastica also succeeds well in the same part of the garden, but it grows much slower than the species just noticed. On the other side of the main walk I observed several specimens of the Indian ‘neem’ tree (Melia Azedarach), which grows with great vigour, but is rather liable to have its branches broken by high winds, owing to the brittle nature of the wood. This defect renders it of less value than it otherwise would be, particularly in a place so liable to high winds and typhoons. This same Melia seems to be found all round the world in tropical and temperate latitudes; I believe it exists in South America and I have seen it in Gibraltar, Malta, Egypt, Aden, Ceylon, the Straits and in the south and north of China, at least as far north as the 31st degree of north latitude. Amongst other plants worthy of notice in this part of the garden are the Chinese cinnamon, the pretty Aglaia Odorata and Murraya exotica, both of which are very sweet scented and much cultivated by the Chinese. Two specimens of the cocoanut palm imported from the Straits are promising well. Other fruits, such as the loquat (Eriobotrya japonica), the Chinese gooseberry (Averrhoa Carambola), the wangpee (Cookia punctata) and the longan and the leechee are all succeeding as well as could be expected, considering the short time they have been planted. The Pinus sinensis, which is met with on the sides of every barren hill, both in the south and north of China, and which is generally badly used by the natives, who lop off its under branches for fuel, is here growing as it ought to do. The Chinese have been prevented, not without some difficulty, from cutting off the under branches, and the tree now shows itself in its natural beauty. It does not seem to grow large, but in a young state, with its fine green foliage reaching to the ground, it is not unhandsome. As the main walk approaches the terrace on which the house stands it turns to the right, between two rows of beautiful yellow bamboos. This species of bamboo is a very striking one, and well worthy of some attention in England; the stems are straight, of a fine yellow colour and beautifully striped with green, as if done by hand of a first-rate artist. I sent a plant of it to the Horticultural Society in 1844. At the bottom of the terrace on which the house stands there is a long narrow bamboo avenue, which is called the ‘Orchid Walk’. This always affords a cool retreat, even at mid-day, as the rays of the sun can only partially reach it and then the dense foliage cools them. Here are cultivated many of the Chinese orchids and other plants which require shade. Amongst them I observed Pharius grandifolius, Cymbidium sinense and aloifolium, Aerides odoratum, Vanda multiflora• and teretifolia, Renanthera coccinea, Fernandezia ensifolia, Arundina sinensis, Habenaria Susannae, a species of Cypripedium and Spathoglottis Fortuni. There are also some other plants, such as Chirita sinensis, the man-neen-chung (a dwarf species of Lycopodium, highly prized by the Chinese) and various other things which, taken all together, render this shaded ‘Orchid Walk’ a spot of much interest. Above the ‘Orchid Walk’ is a green sloping bank, on which are growing some fine specimens of bamboos, Poinciana pulcherrima, myrtles, Gardenias•, oleanders (which thrive admirably in China), Croton variegatum and pictum, Magnolia fuscata, Olea fragans, Dracaena ferrea and Buddlea Lindleyana. The latter was brought down from Chusan by me in 1844 and is now common in several gardens on the island, where it thrives well, and is almost always in bloom, although the flower spikes are not so fine as they are in a colder climate. A large collection of plants in pots is arranged on each side of the broad terrace in front of the mansion. These consist of camellias, azaleas, roses and such plants as are seen in the Fa-tee gardens at canton; many of the pots are prettily painted in the Chinese style and placed upon porcelain stands.
Robert Fortune, A journey to the tea countries of China, J Murray 1852, George Bentham, Flora Hongkongensis: A Description of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of the Island of Hongkong, Lovell Reeve 1861 Dr C.F. Hance (1872),Florae Hongkongensis: A Compendious Supplement to Mr. Bentham's Description of the Plants of the Island of Hong Kong, L. Reeve & Co. 1872 E. Bretschneider, History of European botanical discoveries in China, Sampson Low, Marston and Co. 1898 H. M. Cox, Plant Hunting in China, Collins, 1945