botany [L17th] This comes from the earlier word botanic borrowed from French botanique, which goes back to Greek botanē ‘plant’. The explorer Captain James Cook (1728–79), who landed there in 1770, named Botany Bay because of the large variety of plants collected there by his companion, Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820). Later the area became noted from its wool production and from the late 19th century botany was used for Australian wool.