普通高中课程标准实验教科书 英语选修9 Unit 4 Reading

　　Keeping plants alive during long land or sea voyages was an enormous challenge. Large numbers of seeds failed to grow after long sea voyages or trips across land between Asia and Europe. One plant explorer lost several years' work when his plants were mined with seawater.

　　The world of plant exploration was completely changed with Dr Nathaniel Ward's invention of a tightly sealed portable glass container. This invention, called the Wardian case, allowed plants to be transported on long journeys. In 1833, Ward shipped two cases of British plants to Sydney, Australia. All the plants survived the six-month journey. In 1835, the cases made a return trip with some Australian species that had never been successfully transported before. After eight months at sea, they arrived safely in London.

　　A British man called Robert Fortune was one of the earliest plant collectors to use Wardian cases. He made several trips to China between 1843 and 1859. At that time, there were restrictions on the movement of Europeans and so, in order to travel unnoticed, he developed his fluency in Chinese and dressed as a Chinese man, even shaving his head in the Chinese style. He experienced many adventures including huge thunderstorms in the Yellow Sea and pirates on the Yangtze River. Not only did Fortune introduce over 120 species of plants to Western gardens but he also shipped 20,000 tea plants from Shanghai to India, where a successful tea industry was established.

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