Time Line

This timeline highlights key plant hunters and botanical explorers between 1700 and 1950, a period covering the Enlightenment, the Victorian "golden age" of plant hunting, and early 20th-century exploration

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Time Period 

Plant Hunter(s)

Key Region/Focus

Key Introduction/Contribution

Early 1700s

John Bartram(1699–1777)

North America

Supplied American plants to European gardens.

1760s–1770s

Sir Joseph Banks(1743–1820)

South America, South Seas, Australia

Sailed with Cook; introduced Mimosa, Acacia, Eucalyptus.

1770s–1790s

Francis Masson(1741–1805)

South Africa, Caribbean

First Kew plant hunter; introduced over 500 species.

1780s–1790s

John Sibthorp(1758–1796)

Greece, Cyprus

Collected early Mediterranean plants.

1790s–1800s

George Caley(1770–1829)

Australia (New Holland)

Collected extensively for Kew Gardens.

1800s–1810s

Alexander von Humboldt(1769–1859)

South America (Americas)

Documented thousands of new species; laid foundation for ecology.

1800s–1810s

Robert Brown(1773–1858)

Australia

Collected with Flinders; described a vast number of new species.

1820s–1830s

David Douglas(1799–1834)

North America (Pacific NW)

Introduced the Douglas fir, Sitka spruce, and many conifers.

1840s–1850s

Robert Fortune(1812–1880)

China (Industrial Espionage)

Smuggled tea plants to India; introduced Trachycarpus fortunei.

1840s–1850s

Joseph Dalton Hooker(1817–1911)

Himalayas, India

Documented Himalayan rhododendrons; friend of Darwin.

1850s–1870s

Richard Spruce(1817–1893)

Amazon Basin

Collected over 7,000 species; documented medicinal plants.

1870s–1880s

Marianne North(1830–1890)

Global (Brazil, Australia)

Documented 900 species through scientific, in-situ oil paintings.

1890s–1910s

Ernest "Chinese" Wilson(1876–1930)

China

Introduced over 1,000 species, including Davidia involucrata(Handkerchief tree).

1900s–1930s

George Forrest(1873–1932)

China (Yunnan)

Introduced thousands of plants (primulas, rhododendrons); collected 31,000 specimens.

1910s–1920s

Reginald Farrer(1880–1920)

China, Tibet, Upper Burma

Famous for collecting alpine plants and rock garden species.

1910s–1950s

Frank Kingdon-Ward (1885–1958)

Tibet, Myanmar, Assam

Undertook ~25 expeditions; known for blue poppies and rare rhododendrons.

1920s–1940s

Joseph F. Rock (1884–1962)

China, Tibet, India

Combined botany with ethnography; collected Chaulmoogra tree for leprosy cure.

1920s–1940s

Nicolai Vavilov(1887–1943)

Global (Centers of Origin)

Mapped plant genetic diversity; collected 200,000+ specimens.

Key Themes of the Era

• The Wardian Case: Invented in the 1830s, this glass case allowed live plants to survive long sea voyages, changing the focus from seeds to living plants.

• Imperialism & Economy: Plant hunting was often funded by governments to find valuable crops like tea, rubber, and quinine.

• The "Golden Age": The Victorian and Edwardian eras saw intense competition, particularly in China, where "plant hunters" risked their lives to bring back exotic species.