Amalie Dietrich

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.

Early life Dietrich was born on 26 May 1821 in Siebenlehn in the Kingdom of Saxony (now in Germany). Her parents were Gottlieb Nelle, a leather-worker, and his wife Cordelia, a herbalist. She attended the local village school in Siebenlehn.

Around 1846, at about age 25, she married Wilhelm August Salomo Dietrich, a chemist and pharmacist who earned a living by collecting botanical and other natural history specimens for sale to collectors and institutions.

In March 1848 their daughter, Charitas Concordia Sophie Dietrich, was born in Siebenlehn.

With no formal training she learnt all she could from her husband 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.

Dietrich arrived in Brisbane, Queensland, in August 1863 on the 'La Rochelle'. Her exact route while in Australia remains unknown. She spent 1863 - 1865 in Brisbane. It is known that she spent a year in Rockhampton (early 1866 - early 1867), and then left for Mackay. From 1869 to 1872 she is believed to have been in Bowen.

In February of 1872, Dietrich left Australia. She contributed to the European trade of human remains, that fueled ideas of racial hierarchies and scientific racism. Part of her infamy in Australia comes from stories from the Archer Family, wherein she is alleged to have requested that an employee of the Archer family shoot an First Nations person as a specimen.

From Godeffroy Museum's inventory, Dietrich sent over at least 2 skulls and 8 skeletons. She obtained human remains in Bowen, as well as at least 130 Indigenous items. It is also believed that at the time, Bischoff was struggling financially, and thus needed the book to do well. Despite its inaccuracy, the work would be praised in the Weimar Republic as inspirational. 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.)

Collections Her collections formed the basis of Zur Flora von Queensland ("On Queensland's Flora", 1875) 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 Dietrich Place in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm is named in recognition of her work in Australia.