Mark Catesby

Mark Catesby (1683 to 1749) was an English naturalist who studied the flora and fauna of the New World. Between 1729 and 1747 he published his Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, the first published account of the flora and fauna of North America, which included 220 plates of birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, mammals and plants. Born in Essex, he became interested in natural history through the naturalist John Ray and travelled to Virginia in 1712, visited the West Indies in 1714 and returned to England in 1719. In 1722 William Sherard recommended him for a plant-collecting expedition to Carolina on behalf of members of the Royal Society, and from Charleston he collected plants and animals for several years. He introduced plants such as Catalpa bignonioides to cultivation in Europe, and he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in February 1733.