David Don

Botanist, Deceased Person

1799 – 1841

41

Who was David Don?

David Don was a Scottish botanist,

David Don was born on 21 December 1799 at Doo Hillock, Forfar, Angus, Scotland. He was the younger brother of George Don, also a botanist, their father being George Don of Forfar and his wife Caroline Clementina Stuart. George Don was for a long time Curator of the Royal Botanic Garden, Leith Walk, Edinburgh. David was Professor of Botany at King's College London from 1836 to 1841, and librarian at the Linnean Society of London from 1822 to 1841.

He described several of the major conifers discovered in the period, including first descriptions of Coast Redwood, Bristlecone Fir, Grand Fir and Coulter Pine, and was the first to treat Sugi in a new genus.

He also named the orchid genus Pleione in 1825.

David Don was librarian to the botanist Aylmer Bourke Lambert and compiled for him, Prodromus florae nepalensis ... London, J. Gale, 1825, based on collections made by the botanists Francis Hamilton and Nathaniel Wallich of the Calcutta Botanic Garden.

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Born
Dec 21, 1799
Nationality
  • United Kingdom
Profession
Died
Dec 15, 1841
London

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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