Flowers

Englishman John Ray (1627-1705) is considered by many to be the greatest naturalist of his day, and his works in the fields of botany and zoology are classics of pre-Linnean classification. The Synopsis methodica stirpium brittannicarum, in particular, was the standard botanical authority for many years; it is considered remarkably accurate in its coverage and descriptions of the British flora, and the classification follows a natural sequence, replacing earlier methods with the concept of grouping plants by direct observation of their similarities and differences.

A professor of anatomy and surgery at the University of Leiden, Adriaan van de Spiegel (1578-1625) also studied botany, and his Isagoges in Rem Herbariam Libri Duo is an early work on plant classification. Linnaeus, who established the modern system of scientific nomenclature, held Spiegel's book in high regard and named a genus of flowering plants Spigelia in his honor.