Ray, John (1627–1705)

English naturalist who devised a classification system accounting for some 18,000 plant species. It was the first system to divide flowering plants into monocotyledons and dicotyledons, with additional divisions made on the basis of leaf and flower characters and fruit types.

In Methodus plantarum nova (1682), Ray first set out his system. He also established the species as the fundamental unit of classification. Ray believed that fossils are the petrified remains of dead animals and plants. This concept, which appeared in his theological writings, did not gain general acceptance until the late 18th century.

Life Ray was born near Braintree, Essex, and studied at Cambridge, where he became a lecturer and, in 1660, was ordained a priest. In 1662 he lost his livelihood because of the Act of Uniformity, which required from all clerics a declaration that he refused to sign. With naturalist Francis Willughby (1635–1672), Ray toured Europe 1663–66, and on their return to England, Ray lived at Willughby's home, where they collaborated on publishing the results of their studies. After Willughby's death, Ray remained in the Willughby household until 1678, and then returned to the village where he was born.

Classification of plants In 1670 Ray, with Willughby's help, published Catalogus plantarum Angliae/Catalogue of English Plants. Ray and Willughby then began working on a definitive catalogue and classification of all known plants and animals. Historia generalis plantarum 1686–1704 covered about 18,600 species (most of which were European) and contained much information on the morphology, distribution, habitats, and pharmacological uses of individual species as well as general aspects of plant life, such as diseases and seed germination.

Zoology Ray also wrote several books on zoology, giving details of individual species in addition to classification: Synopsis methodica animalium quadrupedum et serpentini generis/Synopsis of Quadrupeds (1693), Historia insectorum/History of Insects (1710), and Synopsis methodica avium et piscium/Synopsis of Birds and Fish (1713).