Myrtillocactus

Myrtillocactus Console ()
🌵 Author(s)
🌵 Published in Boll. Reale Orto Bot. Palermo 1: 8 (1897)
🌵 Type Myrtillocactus geometrizans
Etymology

Latin myrtillus ‘blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.)’, originally a diminutive form of myrtus ‘true myrtle (Myrtus communis L.)’ + Cactus. For the small white flowers and the black berries, which both resemble those of blueberry and true myrtle.

The name was first proposed by Schumann (Nat. Pflanzenfam. [Engler & Prantl] 3(6a): 178. 1894): “This plant is, according to kind oral communication from Dr. Weber and Mathsson, furnished with very small, numerous, white flowers, which produce black berries when ripe; it is valued as a fruit plant under the name Caramboyo. It is probably the type of a separate genus for which the name Myrtillocactus would be appropriate. However, a judgment is only permitted once the blossoms have been examined more closely.”


How to cite

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

Pronunciation
[mir-til-oh-KAK-tus]

Ross Bayton (2019): The Garderner's Botanical

[Myrtillocáctus]

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