Ethel May Dixie

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Amaryllis belladonnaby Ethel Dixie c1910
Amaryllis belladonna
by Ethel Dixie c1910

Ethel May Dixie (9 May 1876 Seapoint, Cape Town - 11 October 1973 Rondebosch, Cape Town) was a South African botanical artist.

Ethel Dixie was largely self-taught unlike her older sister who enjoyed the benefits of tuition by Thomas Bowler. Nonetheless, she was the principal artist for Rudolf Marloth's The Flora of South Africa. Many of the original plates for this work, were destroyed by a fire at the publisher. She was also a lecturer at the Cape Town School of Art. Her work can be found at the Brenthurst Library in Johannesburg, the Carnegie Library archives at the University of Stellenbosch, MuseumAfrica in Johannesburg, National Botanical Institutes in Cape Town and Pretoria, the South African embassies in London, Rome and New York and in numerous private collections.

[edit] Publications

  • The Flora of South Africa- with Rudolf Marloth 6 vols. (Capetown, Darter Bros. & Co. ; London, W. Wesley & Son, 1913-1932)
  • Wild Flowers of the Cape of Good Hope - with RH Compton (Janda Press, Cape Town 1953)
  • Two portfolios of prints published privately in 1990s.