Echinocactus

Echinocactus Link & Otto ()
🌵 Author(s)

🌵 Type Echinocactus platyacanthus
Etymology

Latin ĕchīnus ‘sea-urchin, hedgehog’ + Cactus. For the spiny, round plant body, but primarily an abbreviation of the pre-Linnaean name Echinomelocactus (‘hedgehog melon-thistle’). Link and Otto split this genus, whose name was abbreviated to Cactus by Linnaeus, into Echinocactus and Melocactus.

Echinocactus is sometimes abbreviated as Ectus or Etus.


How to cite

Maarten H.J. van der Meer (2023 Jul 14). Echinocactus. Dictionary of Cactus Names. Retrieved from https://www.cactusnames.org/Echinocactus

Pronunciation
[EK-in-o-KAK-tus]

A.T. Johnson, H.A. Smith & A.P. Stockdale (2019): Plant Names Simplified, 3rd Edition

[ek-i-noh-KAK-tus]

Ross Bayton (2019): The Garderner's Botanical

[Echinocáctus]

Helmut Genaust (1996): Etymologisches Wörterbuch der botanischen Pflanzennamen, 3. Auflage

“Botanical Latin is essentially a written language, but the scientific names of plants often occur in speech. How they are pronounced really matters little provided they sound pleasant and are understood by all concerned.”

William T. Stearn (1983): Botanical Latin, 3rd Edition: 53