Title page of Historia Plantarum John Ray 1686

''Historia Plantarum'' (''The History of Plants'') is a

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

book by

John Ray John Ray FRS (29 November 1627 – 17 January 1705) was a Christian English naturalist widely regarded as one of the earliest of the English parson-naturalists. Until 1670, he wrote his name as John Wray. From then on, he used 'Ray', after ...

, published in 1686.

Publication

''Historia Plantarum'' was published in three volumes: vol 1 in 1686, vol 2 in 1688, vol 3 in 1704. The third volume lacked plates, so Ray's assistant, the

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Ameri ...

James Petiver James Petiver (c. 1665 – c. 2 April 1718) was a London apothecary, a fellow of the Royal Society as well as London's informal Temple Coffee House Botany Club, famous for his specimen collections in which he traded and study of botany and entomo ...

, published ''Petiver's Catalogue'', effectively a supplement containing the plates, in parts in 1715–1764. The work on the first two volumes was supported by subscriptions from the President and Fellows of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

Editions

* Ray, John (1686). ''Historia plantarum''. London: Clark
Vol 1

Vol 2

Vol 3

References

Sources

* * Raven, Charles E. (1950). ''John Ray, naturalist: his life and works''. Cambridge University Press. Botany books 1686 books History of botany {{botany-book-stub