Echinonyctanthus

Echinonyctanthus Lem., nom. illeg. (1839)

🌵 Author(s)	Charles Lemaire
🌵 Type	not cited

Etymology

Greek echinos ‘hedgehog’ + Greek nyx (stem nykt-) ‘night’ + Greek anthos ‘flower’. Lemaire explained the name as “prickly plant with spines that flowers at night” (“Planta aculeis horrida per noctem florens”) or “hedgehog-plant, flowering during the night” (“plante hérisson, fleurissant pendant la nuit”). Although the Greek word anthos is neuter, this name is treated as masculine under Art. 62.2(c) of the International Code of Nomenclature.

Intended as a replacement name for Echinopsis, which Lemaire considered too similar to Echinops L. (Asteraceae).