Cephalocereus

Cephalocereus Pfeiff. ()
🌵 Author(s)
🌵 Type Cephalocereus senilis
Etymology

Greek kephalē ‘head’ + Cereus, the name of a genus of columnar cacti and a designation for columnar cacti in general. For the cephalium. A renaming of Charles Lemaire’s suggested genus Cephalophorus (for Cereus senilis and Cereus columna-trajani) to avoid confusion with Cephalophora Cav. (1801) in the family Asteraceae. In 1839, Lemaire published the genus Pilocereus for the same two species.


How to cite

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

Pronunciation
[sef-al-o-SER-e-us, kef-al-o-SER-e-us]

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

[kef-al-oh-SER-ee-us]

Ross Bayton (2019): The Garderner's Botanical

[Cephalocéreus]

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