Mammillaria

Mammillaria Haw., ()
🌵 Author(s)
🌵 Type Mammillaria mammillaris
Etymology

Latin mămilla (also mammilla) ‘nipple’ + Latin –āria, a suffix Haworth often used to create generic names. For the nipple-like tubercles (and possibly the milky sap of some species).

The spelling was often corrected to Mamillaria in the 19th and early 20th century, but since the genus was conserved (as Mammillaria) against the older algal genus Mammillaria Stackhouse (1809) in 1930, the original spelling has found universal acceptance. Britton & Rose published the replacement name Neomammillaria in 1923, when Mammillaria Haw. was still an illegitimate younger homonym of Mammillaria Stackhouse, but this name is now superfluous.


How to cite

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

Pronunciation
[mam-mil-LAR-e-a]

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

[mam-uh-LAIR-ee-uh]

Ross Bayton (2019): The Garderner's Botanical

[Mammillária]

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

Common name
globe cactus

United States Department of Agriculture (2021)

fishhook cactus, globe cactus, pincushion cactus

Integrated Taxonomic Information System (2021)