Karl Georg Gustav Wüstnei (18 February 1810 – 12 October 1858) was a German theologian, naturalist and school teacher. He collected numerous specimens of fungi, plants and insects from the

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

region. He is commemorated in the fungus genus '' Wuestneia''. Wüstnei was born in

Malchin Malchin () is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte (district), Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in north-eastern Germany. History The name of the town is of Slavic origin. It was granted town rights in ...

where his father was a physician. He studied theology at

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

from 1830 but went on to study mathematics and botany under Hermann Karsten and

Heinrich Gustav Flörke Heinrich Gustav Flörke (24 December 1764, in Altenkalden in Mecklenburg – 11 June 1835) was a German botanist and lichenologist known for his detailed studies of lichens, particularly within the genus ''Cladonia''. A professor of natural his ...

. He became a teacher of mathematics and natural science at

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch Low German: ''Swerin''; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Zwierzyn''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germ ...

from 1835. He collected plants from the Mecklenburg region and also exchanged specimens from other parts of the world with collectors. He took a special interest in the

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

and

lichens A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

and edited two exsiccatae, namely ''Musci hepatici exsiccati Florae Megapolitanae'' and ''Sammlung mecklenburgischer Lebermoose''. He took a minor interest in birds but his son Carl Wüstnei became a specialist on the birds of the Mecklenburg region. He collaborated with Carl Fiedler, Hans Brockmüller and others. Species named after him include the fungus genus ''Wuestneia'', the bee '' Anthidium wuestneii'', and the sawfly '' Brachythops wuestneii''.

References

{{Authority control 1810 births 1858 deaths 19th-century German botanists People from Malchin Scientists from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania University of Rostock alumni People from Schwerin 19th-century German naturalists