Rebutia

Rebutia K.Schum. ()
🌵 Author(s)
🌵 Published in Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 5: 102 (1895)
🌵 Type Rebutia minuscula
Etymology

Rebut + Latin -ĭa, the recommended suffix to form plant genus names from personal names that end with a consonant (Rec. 60B.1(b), International Code of Nomenclature). Named for French nurseryman Pierre Rebut (1830-1898), who according to Schumann first distributed the type species, Rebutia minuscula, in Europe and was “responsible for many new imports”.

Albert Weber in a letter to Friedrich Adolph Haage Jr. (quoted by Walther Haage in Kakteen And. Sukk. 33(8): 165. 1982):

“You ask me about the matter of nomenclature and the pressure that Prof. Schumann wants to exert on the members of the society. Nobody can force them. The professor seems a little despotic to me. He talks about a committee and its consultations, but the committee would have to dance exclusively to his tune. He is too fond of making modifications and would like to put “K.Schum.” behind all cactus names. You mention Echinopsis minuscula. The same thing happened with it. Mr. Schumann assured me that he had no knowledge whatsoever that the plant had been introduced and named by me. He was convinced that this plant had been introduced by Rebut and that the name also originated from him. This seems hardly possible to me, as he possesses Rebut’s catalogs, which list the plant under my name. […] I received the plant from Argentina 9 years ago; it bloomed and produced seeds 6 or 7 years ago in Rouen at my friend Fr[édéric] Schlumberger’s place. Rebut’s plant came from these seeds. Mr. Rebut had no other merit in this introduction than being the first to sell the plant. Almost all the novelties he brought to the market came from me, but he did not always acknowledge me. That’s why I no longer shared my latest novelties with him.”


How to cite

Maarten H.J. van der Meer (2023 Jul 16). Rebutia. Dictionary of Cactus Names. Retrieved from https://www.cactusnames.org/rebutia

Pronunciation
[re-BUT-e-a]

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

[ruh-BEW-tee-uh]

Ross Bayton (2019): The Garderner's Botanical

[Rebútia]

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