Darlington, William

William (1782-1863), an American botanist. A native of Chester County, Pennsylvania. A practicing physician, member of Congress, 1815, and a banker. An enthusiastic collector and organizer of natural history societies. He wrote a Flora of Chester County, Memorials of John Bartram and Humphrey Marshall, and an Agricultural Botany. Dr. Darlington corresponded with eminent botanists of Europe; among others, De Candolle, to whom he sent many specimens at the Paris Garden of Plants. De Candolle honored the enthusiastic doctor by naming the pitcher plant of California, "Darlingtonia."