Species Torenia thouarsii

For Reverend Olof Torén (1718–1753), Swedish clergyman, traveller, botanist and plant collector, and ship’s chaplain with the Swedish East India Company. He obtained a job in 1747 as ship priest and travelled to Canton, China, twice: first on the East Indiaman Hoppet (Hope), and then, in 1750, on the Götha Leijon (Gothic Lion), returning in 1752. On his second trip, Torén collected many rare plants, but his health deteriorated and he died 13 months later in Näsinge, Bohuslän, Sweden. Before he died, he wrote seven letters to Linnaeus about his travels. Although he collected plants for Linnaeus, he failed to bring back China’s famous tea bush as the plant withered and died. Ten years later, a Captain Ekeberg succeeded in this task.