Anna Amelia Obermeyer
Introduction '''Anna Amelia Mauve (née Obermeyer)''' (1907 – 2001) was a South African botanist who worked at the Botanical Research Institute in Pretoria. She catalogued more than 4,000 plant specimens from the Kalahari and Soutpansberg regions. She made major contributions to the journals ''Flowering Plants of Africa'' and ''Bothalia''.
Early life and career Obermeyer was born on 30 July 1907 in Pretoria and attended Oost Eind Skool (East End School). She obtained her BSc in 1928 and MSc in 1931 from the Transvaal University College, Pretoria, under C.E.B Bremekamp. She was appointed botanist in the Transvaal Museum from 1929 to 1938.She married Anton Mauve in 1938 and did not return to her professional career until 1957 when she joined the National Herbarium. She had, in effect, returned to her original job as the botanical collections of the Transvaal Museum had been transferred to the National Herbarium in 1953.Her area of responsibility at the National Herbarium was petaloid monocots and she retained this position until she reached retirement age in July 1972.In October 1972, after a brief vacation, she returned to the National Herbarium in a temporary capacity and, twelve years later, in 1984 she was promoted to Temporary senior agricultural researcher. In August 1985 she finally retired and moved to Pinelands, Cape Town. She died on 10 October 2001 in Cape Town.
Areas of study At the Transvaal Museum she worked mostly on ''Acanthaceae'' and in particular ''Barleria'', ''Blepharis'' and ''Petalidium''. She catalogued a large collection of plants from the Vernay-Lang expedition to the Kalahari, creating one of the first records of the flora of this region. She was also part of an expedition, with Schweickerdt and Verdoorn, to the Soutpansberg Salt Pan and wrote an account of the specimens of flora collected.Odontonema flwrs.jpg|''Acanthaceae'' Starr 050517-1490 Barleria cristata.jpg|''Barleria''Blepharis attenuata 1.jpg|''Blepharis''Petalidium oblongifolium, blom, Voortrekkerbad, c.jpg|''Petalidium''In 1957 she started working on ''petaloid monocots'', describing individual new species and she provided texts for images published in the journal ''Flowering Plants of Africa''. Volume 42 of this journal was dedicated to her. She also completed revisions of ''Anthericum'', ''Dipcadi'' and ''Lagarosiphon''. She collected more than 4,000 specimens on various field trips in South Africa and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in the company of V.F.M. FitzSimons.Anthericum ramosum 250605.jpg|''Anthericum''Dipcadi serotinum-IMG 4331.jpg|''Dipcadi''
Awards and honours She was awarded the South African Association of Botanists (SAAB) senior medal for botany with the citation that she had made more contributions to that project than any other single botanist. She was a member of the South African Biological Society and edited the journal of the South African Biological Society. She was a founding member of the South African Association of Botanists, a member of ''Association pour l'Étude Taxonomique de la Flore d'Afrique Tropicale'' (AETFAT) and a member of S2A3 (the South African Association for the Advancement of Science).
Eponyms Obermeyer is commemorated in the following plant names:* ''Asparagus obermeyerae''* ''Barleria ameliae''* ''Blepharis obermeyerae''* ''Hemizygia obermeyerae''* ''Lachenalia ameliae''
Selected publications{{R|BothaliaObit}} Some of the more than 4,000 specimens of flora catalogued by Obermeyer are covered in the following list of publications:* Bremekamp, C.E.B. & Obermeyer, A.A. 1935 Serum Kalahariense, a list of plants collected. ''Annals of the Transvaal Museum'' 16: 399-442* Ellis, R.P., Manders, R. & Obermeyer, A.A. 1979.Anatomical observations on the peduncle of ''Xyris capensis'' (Xyridaceae). ''Bothalia'' 12: 637-639. * Lewis, G.J., Obermeyer, A.A. & Barnard, T.T. 1972. ''Gladiolus'': a revision of the South African species. ''Journal of South African Botany'', Suppl. vol. 10: 1-316. * Lewis, J. & Obermeyer, A.A. 1985.Xyridaceae. ''Flora of southern Africa'' 4,2: 1-8. * Mauve A.A. 1966a. Flowering aquatic plants in South Africa. ''Fauna & Flora'' 17: 19-23. * Mauve A.A. 1967.Water-lilies in South Africa. ''Fauna & Flora'' 18: 31-35. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1959. ''Petalidium bracteatum.'' ''The Flowering Plants of Africa'' 33: t. 1317* Obermeyer, A.A. 1933a. Notes on the distribution of ''Copaifera mopane'' Kirk. ''South African Journal of Science'' 30: 266-269. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1960. ''Choananthus cyrtanthiflorus''. ''The Flowering Plants of Africa'' 34: t. 1340. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1961a. Notes and new records of South African plants: ''Barleria argillicola'' Oberm. ''Bothalia'' 7: 444, 445. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1962a. A revision of the South African species of ''Anthericum'', ''Chlorophytum'' and ''Trachyandra''. ''Bothalia'' 7: 669-767. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1963a. A new ''Haemanthus'' and a new ''Tritonia'' from southern Africa. ''Kirkia'' 3: 22-24. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1964a. ''Aponogeton''. ''Journal of the Limnological Society of South Africa'' 1: 12.13. * Obermeyer, A.A.1965a. ''Potamogeton''. ''Journal of the Limnological Society of South Africa'' 2: 27-35. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1967a. Two new species of ''Bulbine'' (Liliaceae). ''Bothalia'' 9: 342-344. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1968a. ''Dietes vegeta''. ''The Flowering Plants of Africa'' 39: t. 1524. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1970a. ''Droseraceae. Rondulaceae. Podostemaceae. Flydrostachyaceae''. ''Flora of southern Africa'' 13: 187-213. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1971a. Two new ''Ornithogalum'' species from South-West Africa. ''Bothalia'' 10: 355-358. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1972a. ''Clivia gardenii''. ''The Flowering Plants of Africa'' 42: t. 1641. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1973a. A note on ''Laurembergia repens'' (Flalorrhagidaceae). ''Bothalia'' 11: 116.117. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1974a. New taxa in the ''Tumeraceae''. ''Bothalia'' 11: 288-290. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1976a. ''Elatinaceae. Frankeniaceae. Tamaricaceae''. ''Flora of southern Africa'' 22: 23-39. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1977a. ''Babiana pygmaea''. ''The Flowering Plants of Africa'' 44: t. 1731* Obermeyer, A.A. 1978a. ''Ornithogalum'': a revision of the southern African species. ''Bothalia'' 12: 323-376. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1980a. The genus ''Sypharissa'' (Liliaceae). ''Bothalia'' 13: 111-114. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1981a. A new species of ''Strumaria'' (Amarvllidaceae). ''Bothalia'' 13' 435. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1982a. A new species of ''Gladiolus'' (Iridaceae). ''Bothalia'' 14: 78. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1984.Revision of the genus ''Myrsiphyllum'' Willd. (Liliaceae). ''Bothalia'' 15: 77-88. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1985a. The genus ''Protasparagus'' (Asparagaceae) in southern Africa. ''Bothalia'' 15: 548, 549. * Obermeyer, A.A. 1992a. ''Sansevieria''. ''Flora of southern Africa'' 5,3: 5-9. * Obermeyer, A.A. & Bogner, J. 1979. ''Gonatopus rhizomatosus''. ''The Flowering Plants of Africa'' 45: t. 1782. * Obermeyer, A.A. & Du Toit, P.C.V. 1976.''Ochnaeeae''. ''Flora of southern Africa'' 22: 1-13. * Obermeyer, A.A. & Faden, R.B. 1985.''Commelinaceae''. ''Flora of southern Africa'' 4,2: 23-60. * Obermeyer, A.A. & Immelman, K.L. 1992.''Asparagaceae''. ''Flora of southern Africa'' 5,3: 11-82. * Obermeyer, A.A. & Nicholas, A. 1984. ''Drosera hurkeana''. ''The Flowering Plants of Africa'' 48: t. 1886. * Obermeyer, A.A., Schweickerdt, H.G. & Verdoorn, I.C. 1937.An enumeration of plants collected in the northern Transvaal. ''Bothalia'' 3: 223-258. * Obermeyer, A.A. & Strey, R.G. 1969.A new species of ''Raphia'' from northern Zululand and Mozambique (Arecaceae). ''Bothalia'' 10: 29-37.
See also
References
External links *** S2A3 website* Bothalia official website