David Don - Definition and Overview

David Don (21 December 1799 - 15 December 1841) was a British botanist, Professor of Botany at King's College, London from 1836–1841, and librarian at the Linnean Society of London from 1822–1841. The standard botanical abbreviation D. Don is applied to plants he described.

He described several of the major conifers discovered in the period, including first descriptions of Coast Redwood (Taxodium sempervirens D. Don; now Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don) Endlicher), 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 (Cupressus japonica Thunberg; now Cryptomeria japonica (Thunberg) D. Don) in a new genus.

He also named the orchid genus Pleione in 1825.