Watercolor of fungiWe are delighted to let you know we have added two new unique collections to Global Plants:

Botanische Staatssammlung München Artwork – Water Colours of Fungi by Fritz Wohlfarth

This collection consists of watercolors of fungi painted by Fritz Wohlfarth (1906–2005). Dr. Fritz Wohlfarth studied at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Germany) and obtained a Ph.D. degree in chemistry. For many years he worked as a field sales representative for a varnish company in Munich. During his tours around Germany and adjacent countries, he collected fresh plant and fungal material and pursued his passion of painting nature, a major interest that he continued after his retirement in the 1970s.

Altogether, over 1,900 paintings of all groups of macromycetes are included in this collection. Nearly all of the 800 species are native to Central Europe, and their identification and the taxonomic applicability of names have been verified wherever possible. The paintings are dated between 1952 and 1977, mounted on cardboard of standardized size, and numbered as well as annotated by the artist. Some include supplementary dried material of the respective fungus.

Botanische Staatssammlung München Artwork – Water Colours of Fungi by Konrad Schieferdecker

This collection consists of finely drawn watercolors and a few monochrome photos of micro- and macrofungi done by Konrad Schieferdecker (1902–1965). Konrad Schieferdecker studied geodesy at the College of Agriculture in Berlin. In 1925, he got a position as surveyor in Hildesheim (Niedersachsen, Germany). For 40 years, his outstanding personal interest was focused on the study of mycology, botany as well as numismatics and prehistory of the region of Hildesheim. He published a number of scientific contributions on various subjects, including the descriptions of some fungi new to science.

In this collection, nearly all of the represented species (875 taxa) are native to Germany (surroundings of Hildesheim). The about 1,350 paintings and 40 photos are on strong paper mounted on black paper board. The first watercolor is dated in September 1941 (Orbilia luteorubella), the last one in September 1963 (Russula cyanoxantha). All of them are numbered (e. g. Pi 24f Zg or Pi 1254 Zg) as well as annotated and signed by the artist “KS.” The early drawings are generally framed with an Indian ink line.