William Dunlop Brackenridge (1810–1893) was a British-American nurseryman and botanist. Brackenridge emigrated to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

in 1837, where he was employed by Robert Buist, nurseryman. He was appointed horticulturalist, then assistant botanist, for the

United States Exploring Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

from 1838-1842. Originally, the well-known botanist Asa Gray was to be the chief botanist, and William Rich, a Washington, DC socialite and son of an ambassador, was politically appointed as his assistant. However, Gray never went on the expedition due to taking an academic job, and Rich was appointed botanist, so they needed a new assistant. Rich was reportedly of little use on the trip, and Brackenridge did almost all the collecting and serious botany work. Brackenridge was assigned to the U.S. Ship Vincennes. In 1839, he collected plants in the Sydney and Hunter River districts of

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, Australia. From 1841-1842, the ships explored the

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

and California coasts, with trips inland. After returning, he continued working with the collected plants and wrote the fern report for the expedition, included in the overall botanical report written by Asa Gray. After 1855, he lived in Baltimore and worked as a nurseryman and landscape architect. Near

Mount Shasta Mount Shasta ( Shasta: ''Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki''; Karuk: ''Úytaahkoo'') is a potentially active volcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. At an elevation of , it is the second-highest peak in the Cascades ...

, he discovered the California Pitcher Plant, '' Darlingtonia californica'', one of the noted successes of the expedition. John Torrey chose the genus name to honor his friend,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

botanist

William Darlington William Darlington (April 28, 1782 – April 23, 1863) was an American physician, botanist, and politician who served as a Democratic-Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district from 181 ...

. Brackenridge Passage in

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

is named for him. Reports of the day indicate that Brackenridge was a hardy, strapping six-footer. He and his wife Isobel were Presbyterians. They had at least four children: Agnes (1846), Robert Buist (1847), William D. (1850), and Jane Henderson Brackenridge (1854).

Plants named for W. D. Brackenridge

*The plant genus '' Brackenridgea'' A. Gray, in the

Ochnaceae Ochnaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Malpighiales.Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham. ''Flowering Plant Families of the World''. Firefly Books: Ontario, Canada. (2007). . In the APG III syst ...

( Fiji and Australia) *The

tree fern The tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae (scaly tree ...

''Cyathea brackenridgei''

Mett. Georg Heinrich Mettenius (24 November 1823 – 18 August 1866) was a German botanist born in Frankfurt am Main. He was son-in-law to botanist Alexander Braun (1805–1877). In 1845 he received his medical doctorate from the University of Heidelbe ...

(

Cyatheaceae The Cyatheaceae are a family of ferns, the scaly tree ferns, one of eight families in the order Cyatheales in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). Alternatively, the family may defined much more broadly (Cyatheaceae ...

)

Plants named by W. D. Brackenridge

(list not inclusive) *''Diclidopteris'' Brack. (genus) *''Diellia'' Brack. (genus; now included in ''

Asplenium ''Asplenium'' is a genus of about 700 species of ferns, often treated as the only genus in the family Aspleniaceae, though other authors consider '' Hymenasplenium'' separate, based on molecular phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences, a different ...

'' L.) *''Onychium densum'' Brack.: now '' Aspidotis densa'' (Brack.) Lellinger *''Antrophyum subfalcatum'' Brack. *''Cyrtogonium palustre'' Brack.: now ''Bolbitis palustris'' (Brack.) Hennipman *''Sitolobium samoense'' Brack.: now ''Dennstaedtia samoensis'' ( Brack.) T.Moore *''Gymnogramma pilosa'' Brack.: now ''Coniogramme pilosa'' (Brack.) Hieron. *''Blechnum coriaceum'' (Brack.) Brownlie *''Blechnum vittatum'' Brack. *''Polypodium sarmentosum'' Brack.: now ''Adenophorus sarmentosus'' ( Brack. ) K.Wilson *''Goniopteris costata'' Brack.: now ''Pneumatopteris costata'' (Brack.) Holtt. *''Lastrea attenuata'' Brack.: now ''Plesioneuron attenuatum'' (Brack.) Holtt. *''Goniopteris glandulifera'' Brack.: now ''Pneumatopteris glandulifera'' (Brack.) Holtt. *''Elaphoglossum intermedium'' Brack. *''Oleandra hirta'' Brack.

Works by W. D. Brackenridge

*Brackenridge, William Dunlop. United States Exploring Edition Report, Volume XVI - Botany - Filices. 1854. *Brackenridge, William Dunlop. United States Exploring Edition Report, Volume XVI - Botany - Filices: Atlas. 1856.

References

*Engraving of W. D. Brackenridge: Frontispiece, ''The Gardener’s Monthly and Horticulturist: Devoted to Horticulture, Agriculture and Rural Affairs'', 26:312. December 1884.
William Dunlop Brackenridge Papers, circa 1838-1875 in Smithsonian Institution Archives:Bornholdt, Mariana D. "Botanizing Western Oregon In 1841 – The Wilkes Inland Expedition":
*Journal of William Dunlop Brackenridge for October, 1841: ''California Historical Society Quarterly'', 24(4):326-336. December, 1945.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brackenridge, William Dunlop 19th-century British botanists Scottish botanists Pteridologists 1893 deaths 1810 births American horticulturists Scottish horticulturists People of the United States Exploring Expedition People from Ayr Scottish emigrants to the United States Scottish Presbyterians 19th-century American botanists 19th-century Scottish scientists

Plants named for W. D. Brackenridge

Plants named by W. D. Brackenridge

Works by W. D. Brackenridge

See also

References

External links