Opuntia triacanthos
('triacantha') (Willd.) Sweet (1826)
Etymology
| 🌵 Author(s) | Robert Sweet |
| 🌵 Basionym | Cactus triacanthos (1814) |
| 🌵 Basionym author(s) | Carl Ludwig Willdenow |
Greek tri– ‘three times, thrice’ + Greek akanthos (variant of akantha) ‘spine’. For the number of spines per areole, according to Willdenow “sometimes solitary, usually 2 or less frequently 3” [sic].
The epithet is apparently a noun in apposition (as evidenced by the combination Gleditschia [= Gleditsia] triacanthos listed by Willdenow in the same work) and should not be changed to triacantha.
Maarten H.J. van der Meer (2022 Feb 05). Opuntia triacanthos. Dictionary of Cactus Names. Retrieved from https://www.cactusnames.org/opuntia-triacanthos