Frauenfeld, Georg Ritter, von   (1807 - 1873)

Frauenfeld was one of seven scientists on board the Austrian frigate the Novara which circumnavigated the world in 1857-1859. He had responsibility for zoology and, along with Ferdinand von Hochstetter, the general collection of natural history specimens.

Based on original diary notes, the account of his explorations to the north and south of the Sydney environs during the Novara's visit there on 5 Nov - 7 Dec 1858, was delivered to the Mathematical-Scientific Section of the Imperial Academy of Sciences on 13 Oct 1859 and published the following year.

The Novara scientists amassed 26,000 botanical/zoological specimens which in addition to ethnological material enriched Austrian Museums.

The scientific results of the journey were published in a 21-volume work of the Vienna Academy of Sciences, Reise de Oesterreichischer Fregatte Novara um die Erde, in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859, published between 1861 and 1876.

There is not a lot of evidence on the web of the botanical collections which originated from this expedition. Eduard Schwarz, ship's doctor, and Anton Jelinek, horticulturist, were both responsible for the botanical activities of the voyage. Schwarz was apparently out of his depth in this area according to a contemporary, Wawra, but two of his collections visible in Vienna through JACQ are the lectotype of the Australian taxon Haloragis tetragynus (Labill.) Hook. f. var. decumbens Schindl. collected from Ash Island and the holotype of the New Zealand species, Solanum apopsilomenum Bitter; a second label other than the formal expedition label on the latter specimen indicates that it was collected from Mount [illegible] on September 28th 18[5]8 but this is unlikely to be correct.

For Anton Jelinek there are 69 specimens on JSTOR, but only one of these is Australian and is appropriately named Parmelia jelinekii Kremph., while there are three from New Zealand.

Others to collect plants on the voyage were Frauenfeld and Hochstetter. Hypnum frauenfeldii Hampe, collected from Dapto, NSW, was named for the former while Bazzania hochstetteri (Reichardt) E.A.Hodgs., Cyperus hochstetteri Nees ex J.Krauss and a naturalised species in WA, Indigofera hochstetteri Baker, are named for Hochstetter.

Some of the botanical collections (algae, lichens, fungi, mosses and hepatics and Ophioglossaceae and Equisetaceae) were written up in 1870 in the Botanischer Theil, part 3 of Reise der österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859...

SEE FULL ARTICLES:
by Heather Cunningham, and Robyn Barker, with references,
Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter 178 (March 2019) p.30-33
( https://asbs.org.au/newsletter/pdf/19-march-178.pdf )

Source: Extracted from:
Cunningham H. (2019) Echidna overboard: Georg Ritter von Frauenfeld, scientist on the 1857-59 world expedition of the Novara,Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter 178 (March 2019)
Barker, R. (2019) Botanical collections from the Novara expedition, Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter 178 (March 2019)
[see both articles for extensive references]
Portrait Photo: Extracted from first reference above, from Botanic Gardens of Adelaide collection.