George Forrest – a Scottish plant collector in China

Watch the video of Leonie Paterson’s talk about George Forrest – a Scottish plant collector in China (Presented on 19 June 2025)

George Forrest (1873-1932), although born in Falkirk and educated in Kilmarnock, made the area around the Esk Valley to the south of Edinburgh his home once he became an adult. It is not, however, in the Esk Valley that he made his name. In 1904, through his connections to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Forrest was given the opportunity to travel to the province of Yunnan in southwest China to collect plants and seeds on behalf of nurseries and estate owners, becoming one of the most successful and prolific collectors to do so. It is likely that most of our gardens will contain plants that have had something to do with George Forrest. The process of collecting plants in China was always interesting but never straightforward, and amongst his archives held in the Library of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh are thousands of letters and photographs that help to tell his perilous and fascinating story.

George Forrest’s story is told by Leonie Paterson who has been the Botanic Garden’s Archivist for over 20 years. She says that her favourite part of the job is working with the Forrest archive and telling his incredible story. – and this rings out as she takes us through the adventurous life of Forrest as a plant collector in remote parts of China in the early part of the twentieth century.

To watch the video click here