Hillebrand, William (Wilhelm) B.   (1821 - 1886)

Hillebrand was born on 13 November 1821 at Nieheim, Westphalia; he died on 13 July 1886 in Heidelberg, Germany.

After receiving his medical degree at Heidelberg, he commenced practice at Paderborn, but the onset of pulmonary tuberculosis "induced him to search for a more healthful climate".

Hillebrand made a few collections in 1849 from near the mouth of the River Murray and Lake Alexandrina, and in the vicinity of Reedy Creek, South Australia.

Two plants, Veronica hillebrandii and Phebalium hillebrandii honour him.

After arriving in Hawaii in 1851, Hillebrand made his mark by establishing the fine botanical gardens in Honolulu.

He was an acquaintance of Mueller and Behr and reputedly first met them in Adelaide.

In the last half the nineteenth century, Hillebrand sent much dried plant material (of rare Hawaiian plants) to the Melbourne Herbarium. In subsequent years, many of these Hawaiian species became extinct and their only known plant material in the world is that housed at the National Herbarium, Melbourne.

Dr Hillebrand spent the last years of his life back in Heidelberg where he died in 1886. His most celebrated publication 'The Flora of the Hawaiian Islands', was published posthumously by his son in 1887.

Much of his original plant material deposited at B was destroyed during the Second World War.
(B = the herbarium of the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem).

Source: Pers. com. Darrell N. Kraehenbuehl, 1990s.
https://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.person.bm000003654
Portrait Photo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hillebrand

Collecting localities for 'Hillebrand, W.' from AVH (2024)

Data from 306 specimens in Australasian herbaria