Mammillaria caput-medusae
('Caput Medusae') Otto ex Pfeiff. (1837)
Etymology
🌵 Author(s) | Louis Pfeiffer | 🌵 Published in | Enum. Diagn. Cact.: 22 (1837) |
Latin căpÅt MÄ•dÅ«sae ‘Medusa’s head’. Not explained by Pfeiffer. Presumably for the long tubercles that give the plant the appearance of the snake-haired Medusa of Greek mythology. Compare Astrophytum caput-medusae.
Maarten H.J. van der Meer (2022 Feb 05). Mammillaria caput-medusae. Dictionary of Cactus Names. Retrieved from https://www.cactusnames.org/mammillaria-caput-medusae