Amalie Dietrich facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Amalie Dietrich
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Photograph of Amalie Dietrich, c. 1870.
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| Born | 26 May 1821 Siebenlehn, Saxony, Germany
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| Died | 9 March 1891 |
| Nationality | German |
| Other names | 'Angel of Black Death' Koncordie Amalie Dietrich |
| Occupation | Natural history collector, museum curator, explorer |
| Known for | Collecting type specimens for the Godefroy Museum |
Koncordie Amalie Dietrich (née Nelle) (26 May 1821 – 9 March 1891) was a German naturalist who was best known for her work in Australia from 1863 to 1872, collecting specimens for the Museum Godeffroy in Hamburg. In Queensland, Australia, Dietrich "actively sought fresh Aboriginal skeletons for her European clients”. While this is most likely part of a local legend that presents Dietrich as the 'Angel of Black Death, it is a proven fact that she did send the human remains of several Indigenous Australians to Hamburg. Her contribution to colonialism – pertaining to both the anthropological as well as the botanical aspect – are the subject of recent academic debates.
Career
Amalie Dietrich was born in Siebenlehn, Saxony, German Confederation. In 1846, she married Wilhelm August Salomo Dietrich, a doctor. With no formal training she learnt all she could from him about collecting and they planned careers working as naturalists. Between 1845 and 1862 they made a precarious living collecting Alpine specimens to sell to chemists for medicines and to museums for their natural history collections. Some of the delicate alpine flowers she collected in this period can be seen on display in the Natural History Museum in Freiburg.
It appears Wilhelm began spending most of his time mounting the specimens and the collecting fell to Amalie. This meant long, lonely, periods away from home which were made even worse after her only child, Charitas, was born in 1848. Finally, in 1861, she broke with him completely.
She collected the type specimens of many species, and in a number of cases the author of the description honoured her in the species epithet (dietrichiae, dietrichiana, amaliae, etc.). Species whose type specimens she collected include:
Aongstroemia dietrichiae Müll.Hal. (1868) - Dicranella dietrichiae (Müll.Hal.) A.Jaeger
Laxmannia illicebrosa Rchb.f. (1871) - a synonym of Laxmannia gracilis R.Br.
Marsdenia hemiptera Rchb. (1871)
Fissidens dietrichiae Müll.Hal. (1872)
Macromitrium sordidevirens Müll.Hal. (1872) - Macromitrium aurescens Hampe
Sargassum aciculare Grunow (1874) - Sargassum filifolium var. aciculare (Grunow) Grunow
Sargassum amaliae Grunow (1874) - accepted
Sargassum godeffroyi Grunow (1874) - accepted
Schoenus elatus Boeck. (1875) - Schoenus falcatus R.Br.
Scirpus dietrichiae Boeck. (1875) - Lipocarpha microcephala (R.Br.) Kunth
Scleria dietrichiae Boeck. (1875) - Scleria levis Retz.
Scleria novae-hollandiae Boeck. (1875) - Scleria laxa R.Br.
Carex dietrichiae Boeck. (1875) - Carex indica L.
Cyperus luerssenii Boeck. (1875) - Cyperus subulatus R.Br.
Acacia dietrichiana F.Muell. (1882)
Barbula subcalycina Mull.Hal. (1882) - (not listed in IPNI, APNI, nor Plants of the world online; listed in AusMoss)
Frullania dietrichana Steph. (1910) - Frullania seriata Gottsche ex Steph.
Indigofera amaliae Domin (1915) - Indigofera polygaloides M.B.Scott
Acacia penninervis var. longiracemosa Domin (1926)
Cryptocarya multicostata Domin (1926) - Cryptocarya hypospodia F.Muell.
Cryptocarya triplinervis var. euryphylla Domin (1926) - Cryptocarya triplinervis R.Br.
Psoralea dietrichiae Domin (1926) - Cullen australasicum (Schltdl.) J.W.Grimes
Swainsona luteola var. dietrichiae Domin (1926) - Swainsona luteola F.Muell.
Tetrastigma nitens var. amaliae Domin (1927) - Tetrastigma nitens (F.Muell.) Planch.
Plectronia coprosmoides var. spathulata O.Swartz (1927) - Cyclophyllum coprosmoides var. spathulatum (O.Schwarz) S.T.Reynolds & R.J.F.Hend.
Premna benthamiana Domin (1928) - Premna serratifolia L.
Hibiscus amaliae Domin (1930) - Hibiscus heterophyllus Vent. (1805)
Mallotus claoxyloides f. grossedentata Domin (1930) - Mallotus ficifolius (Baill.) Pax & K.Hoffm.
Mallotus claoxyloides var. glabratus Domin (1930) - Mallotus claoxyloides (F.Muell.) Müll.Arg.
Pagetia dietrichiae Domin (1930) - Bosistoa medicinalis (F.Muell.) T.G.Hartley
Persoonia amaliae Domin (1930)
Cyperus pumilus var. nervulosus Kuk. (1936) - Cyperus nervulosus (Kük.) S.T.Blake
Helichrysum eriocephalum J.H.Willis (1952)
Nortonia amaliae (a wasp)
Drosera dietrichiana Rchb.f. (1871) - a synonym of Drosera burmanni Vahl (1794)
Current names, synonymy etc based on searches of the Australian Plant Name Index and Plants of the World online. Where no alternative name is given above, the species name is that accepted by either or both of these sources with the exception of the seaweeds.)
Her collections formed the basis of Zur Flora von Queensland ("On Queensland's Flora", 1875) by Christian Luerssen. While in Australia, she visited Ferdinand von Mueller, and in 1881 Mueller acquired a set of her specimens from Luerssen. (The National Herbarium of Victoria (MEL) holds 2790 of her specimens.) She published nothing in her name. However, her collections continue to be an important resource in herbaria around the world (MEL, B, BM, BRSL, HBG, JE, K, L , MO, P, US, W).
Dietrich Place in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm is named in recognition of her work in Australia.
See also
In Spanish: Amalie Dietrich para niños
