Friedrich Wilhelm Zopf

Who is Friedrich Wilhelm Zopf?

Friedrich Wilhelm Zopf was a German botanist and mycologist born in Roßleben, Thuringia.

After studying at the University of Berlin, he received a doctorate of philosophy in 1878 with a thesis entitled Die von Conidienfrüchte von Fumago at the University of Halle. From 1880 to 1883 he was professor at the Higher School of Agriculture in Berlin. He received his habilitation in 1882 at the University of Halle. From 1899 he was professor of botany and botanical garden director at the University of Münster.

Zopf studied in particular mushrooms and explored methods of producing dyes from lichens and mushrooms.

He made numerous contributions towards the classification of fungi, describing the genera Echinothecium, Merismatium, Rhymbocarpus and Sphaerellothecium. He was also the taxonomic authority of the lichenized fungi genera Pseudevernia and Rhizoplaca. The fungi genus Zopfiella is named after him.