🌵 Author(s) | Charles Lemaire | 🌵 Published in | Cact. Gen. Sp. Nov. 3 (1839) |
🌵 Type | Astrophytum myriostigma |
According to Lemaire Greek astēr (stem aster-) ‘star’ + Greek phyton ‘plant’, although the compound Astrophytum, rather than Asterophytum, suggests the first part is Greek astron (stem astr-) ‘star’. For the shape of the body of Astrophytum myriostigma, which, when viewed from above, resembles a starfish (Lemaire: “étoile de mer (asterias)”). Not because the spines are arranged “in the shape of a star” (Wittstein, Etymologisch-botanisches Handwörterbuch: 81. 1852); the species is spineless.
Echinocactus asterias (= Astrophytum asterias) was named after its resemblance to Astrophytum myriostigma.
Maarten H.J. van der Meer (2023 Jul 14). Astrophytum. Dictionary of Cactus Names. Retrieved from https://www.cactusnames.org/astrophytum