John Ellis ( – 15 October 1776) aka Jean Ellis was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

linen merchant and naturalist. Ellis was the first to have a published written description of the

Venus flytrap The Venus flytrap (''Dionaea muscipula'') is a carnivorous plant native to subtropical wetlands on the East Coast of the United States in North Carolina and South Carolina. It catches its prey—chiefly insects and arachnids—with a trapping ...

and its botanical name. Ellis specialised in the study of

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...

s. He was elected a member 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 ...

in 1754 and in the following year published ''An essay towards the Natural History of the Corallines''. He was awarded the Copley Medal in 1767. He was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1774. His ''A Natural History of Many Uncommon and Curious Zoophytes'', written with

Daniel Solander Daniel Carlsson Solander or Daniel Charles Solander (19 February 1733 – 13 May 1782) was a Swedish naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Solander was the first university-educated scientist to set foot on Australian soil. Biography ...

, was published posthumously in 1776. Ellis was appointed Royal Agent for

British West Florida British West Florida was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1763 until 1783, when it was ceded to Spain as part of the Peace of Paris. British West Florida comprised parts of the modern U.S. states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alab ...

in 1764, and for British Dominica in 1770. He exported many seeds and

native plant In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...

s from North America to England. He corresponded with many botanists, including

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...

Taxonomist

Venus's Fly-trap

A royal botanist, William Young imported living plants of the Venus flytrap to England. They were then shown to Ellis. In 1769, he wrote a description of the plant discovery from North Carolina to send to the 'Father of Taxonomy',

. Ellis also gave it the scientific name of ''

Dionaea muscipula The Venus flytrap (''Dionaea muscipula'') is a carnivorous plant native to subtropical wetlands on the East Coast of the United States in North Carolina and South Carolina. It catches its prey—chiefly insects and arachnids—with a trapping ...

''. Later, his essay ''Directions for bringing over seeds and plants, from the East Indies'' (1770) included the first illustration of a

Venus Flytrap The Venus flytrap (''Dionaea muscipula'') is a carnivorous plant native to subtropical wetlands on the East Coast of the United States in North Carolina and South Carolina. It catches its prey—chiefly insects and arachnids—with a trapping ...

plant.

Honours

He was honoured by having 2 plant genera named after him, '' Ellisia'' (in 1763 ) and ''

Ellisiophyllum ''Ellisiophyllum'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Plantaginaceae. It contains just 1 species, ''Ellisiophyllum pinnatum'' (Wall. ex Benth.) Makino Its native range is Central Himalaya to New Guinea. It is found ...

'' (in 1871).

References

External links

* * Ellis, John (1773
''Directions for bringing over seeds and plants, from the East-Indies and other distant countries''
- digital facsimile from

Linda Hall Library The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, sitting "majestically on a urban arboretum." It is the "largest independently funded public library of scien ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, John English botanists Botanical illustrators English zoologists Plant collectors 1710 births 1776 deaths Botanists active in North America Botanists active in the Caribbean Fellows of the Royal Society Recipients of the Copley Medal British Dominica people West Florida 18th-century British botanists 18th-century English businesspeople 18th-century British zoologists Members of the American Philosophical Society

Taxonomist

Venus's Fly-trap

Honours

See also

References

External links