Petter Adolf Karsten (16 February 1834 – 22 March 1917) was a Finnish

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...

, the foremost expert on the fungi of Finland in his day, and known in consequence as the "father of Finnish mycology". Karsten was born in Merimasku near Turku, studied at the University of Helsinki, and then moved to the inland of Tammela, where he spent most of his life with teaching botany and doing research at the Mustiala Agriculture Institute (now the Faculty of Agriculture of the

HAMK University of Applied Sciences Alula Aba Nega Airport , also known as Mekelle Airport, is an airport serving Mekelle, the capital city of the Tigray Region in northern Ethiopia. The airport is located southeast of the city. History This airport was built in the late 1990s ...

). He amassed a vast collection, both by his own efforts and those of his correspondents, and named about 200 new

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

and 2,000 new species. In his mycological studies he extensively used the microscope and can be considered as the pioneer of fungal microscopy. ''Karstenia'', the international journal of mycology published by the Finnish Mycological Society, is dedicated to Karsten.

Honours

In 1885, botanist

Elias Magnus Fries Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. Career Fries was born at Femsjö (Hylte Municipality), Småland, the son of the pastor there. He attended school in Växjö. He acquired ...

published '' Karstenia'' is a genus of fungi in the order Rhytismatales. It was named in Petter Adolf Karsten's honour. In 1889, he published '' Onnia'', which is a genus of fungi in the family Hymenochaetaceae. The genus name of ''Onnia'' was in honour of Onni Alexander Karsten (1868-1958), who was a Finnish gardener and Petter Adolf Karsten's son. In 1969, Harri Harmaja published '' Karstenella'' which is a genus of fungi in the order

Pezizales The Pezizales are an order of the subphylum Pezizomycotina within the phylum Ascomycota. The order contains 16 families, 199 genera, and 1683 species. It contains a number of species of economic importance, such as morels, the black and white tr ...

(of family Karstenellaceae). Lastly, ''

Karsteniomyces ''Karsteniomyces'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi of unknown familial, ordinal, and class placement in the Ascomycota. The genus was circumscribed by David Leslie Hawksworth in 1980. The species of this genus are found in Europe. The genus ...

'', which is a genus of

lichenicolous fungi A lichenicolous fungus is a parasitic fungus that only lives on lichen as the host. A lichenicolous fungus is not the same as the fungus that is the component of the lichen, which is known as a lichenized fungus. They are most commonly specific ...

of unknown

familial Familial may refer to: * ''Familial'' (album), a 2010 studio album by Phil Selway *Family, a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence *Family (biology), one of the eight major taxonomic ranks, classified between orde ...

, ordinal, and class placement in the

Ascomycota Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The def ...

. The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every po ...

by David Leslie Hawksworth in 1980.

References

* Finnish mycologists 1834 births 1917 deaths Finnish taxonomists {{Mycologist-stub

Honours

See also

References