David Don

1800 - 1841

Botanist. Born in Forfar, the son of a horticulturist and younger brother of plant-collector George Don (1798 - 1856). His father became Superintendent of the Edinburgh Botanical Gardens in 1802. Moving to London, the young Don was elected a Fellow of the Linnaean Society, becoming its Secretary in 1822. He was appointed to the Chair of Botany in King's College (University of London) in 1836. Don developed his father's work to publish a number of papers including Descriptions of Several New or Rare Native Plants found in Scotland. He was the first to describe the Arctic-Alpine flora of Scotland.

Use the tabs on the right of this page to see other parts of this entry