Maxwell "Max" Koch (17 July 1854 – 1 April 1925) was a German-born

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n botanical collector.

Biography

Born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Koch was apprenticed to a merchant's office, but, not liking the work, joined the crew of a

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

-based sailing ship at

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

. Koch disembarked at

Port Augusta, South Australia Port Augusta (''Goordnada'' in the revived indigenous Barngarla language) is a coastal city in South Australia about by road from the state capital, Adelaide. Most of the city is on the eastern shores of Spencer Gulf, immediately south of the ...

in April 1878, taking work at a wheat farm. Later he moved to Mount Lyndhurst sheep station, where he remained for many years. Around 1896 he began serious botanical collecting. Koch visited Germany around 1902–1903, then returned to Australia, and in 1904 moved to the extreme south-west of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, where he spent the next 17 years working in the timber industry. By that time he had a large family, and he supplemented his income by plant specimens, and, in his later years, seed. He died at

Pemberton, Western Australia Pemberton is a town in the South West region of Western Australia, named after original settler Pemberton Walcott. History The region was originally occupied by the Bibbulmun people who knew the area as Wandergarup, which in their language m ...

in 1925.

Legacy

During his lifetime, Koch very highly regarded by botanists, who considered him to be an outstanding botanical collector. In total his collections amount to about 820 species in South Australia and 2880 in Western Australia. These went to a range of botanists, herbaria, and botanic gardens, including

Joseph Henry Maiden Joseph Henry Maiden (25 April 1859 – 16 November 1925) was a botanist who made a major contribution to knowledge of the Australian flora, especially the genus ''Eucalyptus''. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation when citing ...

in Sydney (who used Koch's specimens as exchange material), the botanic gardens at Adelaide and Brisbane, and several overseas recipients. More than 40 plant species were published from specimens collected by him, including '' Lechenaultia macrantha'', ''

Eucalyptus brachycorys ''Eucalyptus comitae-vallis'', commonly known as Comet Vale mallee or Cowcowing mallee, is a mallee that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has rough, flaky to ribbony bark on the trunk and larger branches, smooth withish bar ...

'' and ''

Eucalyptus kochii ''Eucalyptus kochii'', commonly known as oil mallee, is a species of Mallee (habit), mallee, sometimes a tree, and is Endemism, endemic to Western Australia. It has rough, flaky or fibrous bark on the trunk, smooth grey bark above, linear to narr ...

''. The last of these was named in his honour, as were species of several other genera, including ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

'', ''

Aizoon ''Aizoon'' or ''Aizoön'' is a genus of flowering plants in the iceplant family, Aizoaceae. Description No raphides occur in at least the leaves and stalks of at least 3 species. Distribution Apart from '' A. canariense'', which is native to Ma ...

'', ''

Scirpus ''Scirpus'' is a genus of grass-like species in the sedge family Cyperaceae many with the common names club-rush, wood club-rush or bulrush. They mostly inhabit wetlands and damp locations. Description ''Scirpus'' are rhizomatous perennial herbs ...

'', ''

Thryptomene ''Thryptomene'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to Australia. Plants in the genus ''Thryptomene'' are shrubs with small leaves arranged in opposite pairs and white or pink flowers. About forty-seven species ...

'' and ''

Zygophyllum ''Zygophyllum'' is the type genus of the flowering plant family Zygophyllaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek language, Greek words ζυγόν (''zygon''), meaning "double", and φυλλον (''phyllon''), meaning "leaf". It refer ...

''. Specimens collected by Koch are cared for at the

National Herbarium of Victoria The National Herbarium of Victoria (Index Herbariorum code: MEL) is one of Australia's earliest herbaria and the oldest scientific institution in Victoria. Its 1.56 million specimens of preserved plants, fungi and algae—collectively known ...

(MEL),

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV) are botanical garden, botanic gardens across two sites–Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Melbourne and Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne, Cranbourne. Melbourne Gardens was founded in 1846 when land w ...

Biography

Legacy

References

Further reading