Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1976 (SND Vol. X, list of scientific terms with Scottish connections).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
DON. 1. After George Don (1764–1814), of Menmuir, Ags., nurseryman superintendent of Edinburgh Bot. Garden. Hence Donia, a genus of showy leguminous plants, also called Clianthus, from Australasia, the glory pea, the name being given by his son George Don (a.1856 in Engler Pflanzenfamilie (1894) III. iii. 230), and donniana, specif. name of Jungermannia. a hepatica or liver-wort.
2. After David Don (1799–1841), son of the above, of Forfar, Professor of Botany at King's College, London. Hence Donia, a yellow-flowered asteraceous plant of the Missouri region, called also Grindelia (1817 R. Brown in Bot. Reg. III. 187); Doniophyton, a shrub of the thistle order, Mutisiaceae, found in the Andes (1855 H. Weddell in F. Castelnau Exped. Parties Centrales de l'Amérique du Sud I. 14).
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"Don ". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 19 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/snd00089963>
