Maihueniopsis leoncito

Maihueniopsis leoncito (Werderm.) F.Ritter ex P.C.Guerrero & Helmut Walter (2019)

🌵 Author(s)	Helmut Walter Pablo Guerrero
🌵 Basionym	Opuntia leoncito (1929)
🌵 Basionym author(s)	Erich Werdermann

Etymology

Spanish leoncito ‘little lion’, a vernacular name for the species in Chile (also used for Maihueniopsis reicheana). Werdermann: “The plant […] is fully covered with spines that radiate radially outwards. Sometimes the color of the spines is pale, almost yellowish white, so that the cushions give the impression of an animal, a sheep or cougar, from a distance. The native name “leoncito”, after which the species was named, refers to the resemblance to the latter.”