James Macrae was a Scottish botanist.
In 1824, James 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.
After the specimen hunting voyage to the Kingdom of Hawai'i, Macrae was sent to Ceylon to work at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya.
James Macrae died in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1830.