death_date birth_place nationality fields birth_date article_title name
21 may 1883 herzberg am harz german/british botany zoology 21 november 1811 ludwig preiss
 ludwig preiss
ludwig preiss

johann august ludwig preiss -lrb- 21 november 1811 -- 21 may 1883 -rrb- was a german-born british botanist and zoologist .
preiss was born in herzberg am harz , germany .
he obtained a doctorate , probably at hamburg , then emigrated to western australia .
he arrived at the swan river colony on board the `` britmart '' on 4 december 1838 , remaining there until january 1842 ; during this time he became a british subject .
during his time in western australia , preiss collected about 200,000 plant specimens , containing from 3,000 to 4,000 species .
his collections , together with those of james drummond , formed the basis for early study of western australian flora .
in 1842 he left western australia for london , where he broke up and sold his plant collection to recoup his costs .
various botanists published species based on his specimens , and these were later collated by johann lehmann to form the multi-volume `` plantae preissianae sive enumeratio plantarum quas in australasia occidentali et meridionale occidentali annis 1838-41 collegit l '' , published in hamburg between 1844 and 1848 .
the specimens collected by preiss were not limited to plants : they included birds , reptiles , insects and molluscs .
the molluscs were described by karl theodor menke and published in hanover in 1843 titled `` molluscorum novae hollandiae specimen '' .
in october 1839 , preiss tried to sell his collection of bird skins to the colonial government in perth , but it was declined .
preiss 's collection of animals was sold in parts throughout europe to museums and collectors .
the only distinguishable collection of any note is in the municipal museum of halberstadt .
the first specimen of the western swamp tortoise was collected by preiss in 1839 and sent to the vienna museum where it was labelled `` new holland '' , but was not named `` pseudemydura umbrina '' until 1901 by seibenrock .
no further collections of the species were recorded until 1953 .
preiss returned to herzberg am harz in 1844 and settled there .
he died there on 21 may 1883 .
it had been on his recommendation that ferdinand von mueller moved to australia in 1847 .
preiss is commemorated in the names of about 100 species of flora in western australia , including plants in the genera `` acacia '' , `` allocasuarina '' , `` eucalyptus '' , `` grevillea '' , `` hakea '' , `` kunzea '' , `` melaleuca '' , `` santalum '' , `` xanthorrhoea '' and `` callitris '' .
