David Don (21 December 1799 – 15 December 1841) was a
Scottish botanist
Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
.
Biography
David Don was born on 21 December 1799 at Doo Hillock,
Forfar
Forfar (; , ) is the county town of Angus, Scotland, and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million-pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town had a population of 16,280.
The town ...
,
Angus, Scotland
Angus (; ) is one of the 32 Local government in Scotland, local government council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City (council area), Dundee City and Per ...
to Caroline Clementina Stuart, and her husband George Don of
Forfar
Forfar (; , ) is the county town of Angus, Scotland, and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million-pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town had a population of 16,280.
The town ...
. His older brother was
George Don, also a botanist. His father was a curator at the Royal Botanic Garden,
Leith Walk,
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
. Don was
Professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
of Botany at
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...
from 1836 to 1841, and
librarian
A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...
at the
Linnean Society of London
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript a ...
from 1822 to 1841.
He described several of the major
conifers
Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...
discovered in the period, including first descriptions of
coast redwood (''Taxodium sempervirens'' D. Don; now ''Sequoia sempervirens'' (D. Don)
Endl.),
Bristlecone Fir (''Pinus bracteata'' D. Don, now ''Abies bracteata'' (D. Don) A. Poit.),
Grand Fir (''Pinus grandis'' Douglas ex D. Don; now ''Abies grandis'' (Douglas ex D. Don)
Lindl.) and
Coulter Pine (''Pinus coulteri'' D. Don), and was the first to treat
Sugi
''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' ( syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' L.f.). It is considered to be endemic to Japan ...
(''Cupressus japonica''
Thunb.; now ''Cryptomeria japonica'' (
Thunb.) D. Don) in a new
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
.
He also named the
orchid
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...
genus
Pleione in 1825.
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.
On 15 April 1837 in
Soho
SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...
he married Mary Evans (1788/9–1864). He died on 8 December 1841 from cancer, and is buried at
Kensal Green
Kensal Green, also known as Kensal Rise, is an area in north-west London, and along with Kensal Town, it forms part of the northern section of North Kensington, London, North Kensington. It lies north of the canal in the London Borough of Brent ...
.
In 1938, the
London County Council
The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...
marked Don at 32
Soho Square
Soho Square is a garden square in Soho, London, hosting since 1954 a ''de facto'' public park leasehold estate, let by the Soho Square Garden Committee to Westminster City Council. It was originally called King Square after Charles II of Engla ...
with a rectangular stone plaque, commemorating him as well as botanists
Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences.
Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...
and
Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author
Entertainers and artists
* Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer
* Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...
and meetings of the
Linnean Society.
List of selected publications
* ''
Theophrastaceae''
See also
*
:Taxa named by David Don
References
Bibliography
*
External links
View digitized titles by David Don in ''Botanicus.org''Obituary of David Don
{{DEFAULTSORT:Don, David
British dendrologists
British pteridologists
1799 births
1841 deaths
Botanists with author abbreviations
Academics of King's College London
19th-century Scottish botanists
People from Forfar