Franz Petrak

Franz Petrak
Born	(1886-10-09)October 9, 1886 Mährisch-Weißkirchen, Austria
Died	October 9, 1973(1973-10-09) (aged 87) Vienna, Austria
Alma mater	University of Vienna
Scientific career
Fields	Botany, Mycology
Author abbrev. (botany)	Petr.

Franz Petrak (9 October 1886, Mährisch-Weißkirchen – 9 October 1973, Vienna) was an Austrian-Czech mycologist.

From 1906 to 1910, he studied botany at the University of Vienna, where he was a student of Richard Wettstein. In 1913, he obtained his doctorate of sciences, and until 1916, worked as a high school teacher in Vienna. During World War I, he was stationed in Galicia and Albania, where he collected specimens in his spare time.^[1] From 1918 to 1938, he worked as a private scientist in his home town, and from 1938 to 1951, was associated with the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna.^[2]

He was the author of nearly 500 published works, primarily in the field of mycology.^[3] Much of his mycological work was published in the journal Annales mycologici and its successor Sydowia. Reportedly, his private herbarium contained 100,000 specimens.^[2] Starting from 1908 until 1970 he edited altogether fourteen exsiccatae by distributing large sets of fungal and plant specimens.^[4] Among them are the exsiccata-like series Fungi Eichleriani (Mycotheca Eichleriana) (1908-1912) which distributed material collected by Gustav Adolf Ferdinand Eichler and the exsiccata Cirsiotheca universa (1908-1927).^[5][6]

As a taxonomist, he described numerous species within the genus Cirsium (family Asteraceae).^[7] The mycological genera of; Petrakia Syd. & P.Syd. 1913 (family Pseudodidymellaceae), Petrakiella Syd. 1924 (Phyllachoraceae), Franzpetrakia Thirum. & Pavgi 1957 (Ustilaginaceae), Petrakiopeltis Bat., A.F.Vital & Cif. 1958 (Microthyriaceae), Petrakiopsis Subram. & K.R.C.Reddy 1968 (Ascomycota) and Petrakina (family Asterinaceae) have all been named in his honor, the latter genus being circumscribed by Raffaele Ciferri in 1932.^[2][8]

Franz Petrak died 9 October 1973 in Vienna.^[9]

Selected works

• Die nordamerikanischen Arten der Gattung Cirsium, 1917.
• Die Gattungen der Pyrenomyzeten, Sphaeropsideen und Melanconiee, 1926.
• Die phaeosporen Shaeropsideen und die Gattung Macrophoma, 1926.
• "Index of fungi. Petrak's lists, 1920-1939". Cumulative index by the Commonwealth Mycological Institute (Great Britain), 1956.
• "Index of fungi : list of new species and varieties of fungi, new combinations and new names published 1920-1939", 1957.
• "Index of fungi: a supplement to Petrak's lists, 1920-1939". By the Commonwealth Mycological Institute (Great Britain), 1969.^[10]

See also

• Category:Taxa named by Franz Petrak
• List of mycologists

References

1. "3.2. Pilz-Herbarien (P) Fungi P (Collectors Index Herbarium M)" (in German). Botanische Staatssammlung München. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
2. "Taxonomic literature : a selective guide to botanical publications". Biodiversity Heritage Library. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
3. Scheuer, Christian. "Alphabetical Index to Mycotheca generalis". University of Graz. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
4. Triebel, D. & Scholz, P. 2001–2024 IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae. – Botanische Staatssammlung München: http://indexs.botanischestaatssammlung.de. – München, Germany.
5. "Fungi Eichleriani (Mycotheca Eichleriana): IndExs ExsiccataID=656029403". IndExs - Index of Exsiccatae. Botanische Staatssammlung München. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
6. "Cirsiotheca universa: IndExs ExsiccataID=1501551999". IndExs - Index of Exsiccatae. Botanische Staatssammlung München. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
7. "List of plants described and co-described by Petrak". International Plant Names Index.
8. Burkhardt, Lotte (2022). Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen [Encyclopedia of eponymic plant names] (pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2022. ISBN 978-3-946292-41-8. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
9. "Franz Petrak zum Gedenken" [Franz Petrak in Memoriam] (PDF). Ann. Naturhistor. Mus. Wien (in German). 81. Vienna: 661–664. February 1978.
10. "Most widely held works by Franz Petrak". WorldCat Identities. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
11. International Plant Names Index.  Petr.