Plutonopuntia

Plutonopuntia P.V.Heath (1999)

🌵 Author(s)	Paul V. Heath
🌵 Type	Plutonopuntia chaffeyi

Etymology

Latin Plūto or Plūton (stem Plūtōn-) or Greek Ploutōn ‘Pluto, god of the underworld’ + Opuntia. Heath, quoted by Burkhardt (Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen. 2022): “Plutonopuntia is from Pluto … Pluto itself is alas unavailable because it is preoccupied by Pluto Pate of the Sphecidæ [a family of wasps].” Application unknown. For the long underground rhizomes and/or the annual stems that usually die off after the growing season?

Other generic names by Heath inspired by antiquity or classical mythology include Calchas (Lamiaceae), Creüsa (Crassulaceae), Curio (Asteraceae) and Septimia (Crassulaceae).