Greek karpos ‘fruit’ + Greek phyllon ‘leaf’. For the leafy fruits. Compare the Dutch name bladappel ‘leaf apple’ for Pereskia aculeata.
Necker spelled the name Carpophillus in the protologue, but gave the French form as Carpophylle. In the next volume of his Elementa botanica (3, 1790: 402, 411) he used the spelling Carpophyllus twice. For that reason the name is sometimes corrected to Carpophyllus or Carpophyllum.
Fruit of Pereskia aculeata. Image credit: Britton & Rose, The Cactaceae Vol. 1 (1919)
Maarten H.J. van der Meer (2022 Jul 28). Carpophillus. Dictionary of Cactus Names. Retrieved from https://www.cactusnames.org/carpophillus