Dietrich, Konkordia Amalie (née Nelle) (1821 - 1891)

Sent to Brisbane, Queensland, in 1863 as a paid collector for the Godeffroy Museum in Hamburg, she spent the next 10 years making extensive plant, animal and anthropological collections. She was based for a time in Bowen, Brisbane, Gladstone, Mackay and Rockhampton, and travelled at least short distances inland. Her collections formed the basis of Zur Flora von Queensland by C.Luerssen (J. Mus. Godeffroy 3: 1-22 (1873) & 3: 233-254 (1875)) and of Domin's works.

Her main collection is housed at HBG, but a set of duplicates was presented to Domin. Of the new taxa published by Domin, the specimen at PR should be considered the holotype, that at HBG the isotype (Kanis, 1977). A number of duplicates are also in MEL, donated by HBG in the 1970s. Some others may have been sent to Mueller directly by Dietrich, and material is also in B, BM, BRSL, JE, K, L, MO, P, US and W.

Source: extracted from: A.E.Orchard (1999) A History of Systematic Botany in Australia, in Flora of Australia Vol.1, 2nd ed., ABRS. [consult for source references]
Portrait Photo: Maiden, J.H. (1912) Records of Australian Botanists (first Supplement), Report of the Thirteenth Meeting of the Aust. Assoc. Adv. Sci., Plate 20

Born in Siebenlehn, Saxony, to Gottlieb Nelle, a leather-worker, and his wife, Cordel.

In c.1846, Amalia married Wilhelm August Salomo Dietrich, a lawyer and naturalist, and they had one daughter. After her marriage broke down in 1862, Amalia became a professional natural history collector for the Museum Godeffroy, Hamburg. She travelled to Australia in 1863, and collected MEL specimens around Brisbane, 1863–1864; Gladstone, 1864-1865; Rockhampton, 1864-1866; Mackay, 1867; Lake Elphinstone, 1868; Mackay, 1869; and Bowen (Port Denison), 1869-1870.

In 1871, she visited Mueller in Melbourne. Mueller acquired a set of Amalia's specimens in 1881 from Christian Luerssen.

Amalia collected types of:

Aongstroemia dietrichiae Mull.Hal. (1868),
Laxmannia illicebrosa Rchb.f. (1871),
Marsdenia hemiptera Reichenbach (1871),
Fissidens dietrichiae Mull.Hal. (1872),
Macromitrium sordidevirens Mull.Hal. (1872),
Sargassum aciculare Grunow (1874),
Sargassum amaliae Grunow (1874),
Sargassum godeffroyi Grunow (1874),
Schoenus elatus Boeck. (1875),
Scirpus dietrichiae Boeck. (1875),
Scleria dietrichiae Boeck. (1875),
Scleria novae-hollandiae Boeck. (1875),
Carex dietrichiae Boeck. (1875),
Cyperus luerssenii Boeck. (1875),
Acacia dietrichiana F.Muell. (1882),
Barbula subcalycina Mull.Hal. (1882),
Frullania dietrichana Steph. (1910),
Indigofera amaliae Domin (1915),
Acacia penninervis var. longiracemosa Domin (1926),
Cryptocarya multicostata Domin (1926),
Cryptocarya triplinervis var. euryphylla Domin (1926),
Psoralea dietrichiae Domin (1926),
Swainsona luteola var. dietrichiae Domin (1926),
Tetrastigma nitens var. amaliae Domin (1927),
Plectronia coprosmoides var. spathulata O.Swartz (1927),
Premna benthamiana Domin (1928),
Hibiscus amaliae Domin (1930),
Mallotus claoxyloides f. grossedentata Domin (1930),
Mallotus claoxyloides var. glabratus Domin (1930),
Pagetia dietrichiae Domin (1930),
Persoonia amaliae Domin (1930),
Cyperus pumilus var. nervulosus Kuk. (1936),
Helichrysum eriocephalum J.H.Willis (1952).

A number of these species were named for her.

There are also Amalia Dietrich specimens at B, BM, BRSL, HBG, JE, K ('Amalia Dietrich', 1863-1866, 30 specimens), L, MO, P, US and W.

On her return to Hamburg, Amalia worked for the Museum Goddefroy.

She died in 1891 aged 70.

Source: extracted from: Maroske, Sara and Vaughan, Alison (2014) 'Ferdinand Mueller's female plant collectors: a biographical register', Muelleria Vol.32 [consult for source references]