John Parkinson (1567–1650; buried 6 August 1650) was the last of the great
English herbalists and one of the first of the great English
botanists. He was
apothecary to
James I and a founding member of the
Worshipful Society of Apothecaries in December 1617, and was later Royal Botanist to
Charles I. He is known for two monumental works,
Paradisi in Sole Paradisus Terrestris (
Park-in-Sun's Terrestrial Paradise, 1629), which generally describes the proper cultivation of plants; and
Theatrum Botanicum (
The Botanical Theatre or
Theatre of Plants, 1640), the most complete and beautifully presented English treatise on plants of its time. One of the most eminent gardeners of his day, he kept a botanical garden at
Long Acre in
Covent Garden, today close to
Trafalgar Square, and maintained close relations with other important English and
Continental botanists, herbalists and
plantsmen.