Melocactus violaceus subsp. ritteri

Melocactus violaceus subsp. ritteri N.P.Taylor (1991)

🌵 Author(s)	Nigel Taylor
🌵 Published in	Bradleya 9: 57 (1991)

Etymology

Named for German botanist Friedrich Ritter (1898-1989), who collected the taxon in Bahia, Brazil, and described it under the name Melocactus macrodiscus var. minor (Latin mĭnor ‘smaller’). Taylor: “The new epithet ritteri has been used in preference to that published by Ritter for this taxon, since, when combined under the generally dwarf M. violaceus, ‘minor’ seems inappropriate (and there is no infringement of the International Code because minor does not have priority outside the rank of variety).”