In our previous post to mark British Tomato Fortnight, we mentioned that historically the tomato was viewed as poisonous. At Middleton Hall, this then invites the question of what did our famous resident botanist John Ray say about the tomato in the 17th century? John Ray’s masterpiece, Historia Plantarum , contains multiple entries that would be considered as synonyms of the tomato today. One that is particularly interesting is in the appendix to Historia Plantarum volume 2