biology

James Macrae (botanist)

James Macrae (botanist) is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand James Macrae (botanist) rather than just read about it. In short: James Macrae (1791/1792–1830; also used the spelling "McRae") was a Scottish botanical collector who travelled to Hawaii in 1824 and then worked at the botanical garden in Ceylon where he died after just three years. Bulbophyllum macraei, Callista macraei, and Cirrhopetalum macraei are among the plant species named after him.

Key takeaways

James Macrae (botanist) belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect James Macrae (botanist) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of James Macrae (botanist) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

James Macrae (1791/1792–1830; also used the spelling "McRae") was a Scottish botanical collector who travelled to Hawaii in 1824 and then worked at the botanical garden in Ceylon where he died after just three years. Bulbophyllum macraei, Callista macraei, and Cirrhopetalum macraei are among the plant species named after him.

Life and work Macrae was born in 1791 or 1792. Little is known of his early life. In 1824 he was sent by the Royal Horticultural Society to travel to Hawaii aboard the HMS Blonde (1824-25). The ship, under the command of Captain George Anson Byron (a cousin of Lord Byron who succeeded to the title of seventh Lord Byron in 1824), was sent to return the bodies of the King Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu of Hawaii who had died from measles in Britain. He took coffee seeds which were planted in Hawaii. The ship left in September 1824 and returned via Madeira, Brazil, Chile, Galapagos, Hawaii, Chile and St. Helena. There was a mutiny en route and the ship also had to rescued the survivors of another vessel. It reached England in March 1826. Macrae brought numerous plants including species of Araucaria. After his return, Macrae was posted to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Peradeniya as a superintendent. He took a special interest in orchids and sent many new species to England.

Voyage of H.M.S. Blonde Macrae was sent by the Royal Horticultural Society, aboard the H.M.S Blonde to gather botanical and agricultural information, collect plants and give seeds to Hawaiians. Another naturalist Andrew Bloxam whose brother Rowland was ship's chaplain. Ship's artist Robert Dampier also made several important paintings on the voyage. Maria Graham (later, Maria Callcott) wrote a book about the voyage of the H.M.S. Blonde including an account of the voyage and funeral ceremony for the Hawaiian sovereigns whose bodies were being returned to the Kingdom of Hawai'i.

Death James Macrae died in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1830.

Written works The standard author abbreviation J.Macrae is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.

References

External links With Lord Byron at the Sandwich Islands in 1825 : being extracts from the MS diary of James Macrae, Scottish botanist (1922)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with James Macrae (botanist)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what James Macrae (botanist) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to James Macrae (botanist) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about James Macrae (botanist) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of James Macrae (botanist)

In research: James Macrae (botanist) appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses James Macrae (botanist) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: James Macrae (botanist) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1790s births, 1830 deaths, 19th-century Scottish botanists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for James Macrae (botanist) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “James Macrae (botanist)” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study James Macrae (botanist) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what James Macrae (botanist) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain James Macrae (botanist) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is James Macrae (botanist) in simple terms?

Why does James Macrae (botanist) matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study James Macrae (botanist)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on James Macrae (botanist).