What’s in a name? How did the different cacti and succulents receive their Latin names?

Once the Europeans arrived in the New World, it didn’t take long for plant collectors and explorers to send samples back home.

By the 17th century, Europeans knew about various different kinds of cacti.

In the 1700’s Linnaeus, the great naturalist, created one genus for the different cacti that was known at that time. He was the one that came up with the word cactus, basing this on the Greek words used by Theophrastus meaning ‘bristly plant.’ At that time, this genus included the Opuntias, the Cereus, and Pereskia.

Sometimes the plants are named after the individual that discovered them.

Pereskia was named in honor of N.C. F. de Peiresc. This French gardener lived from 1580 to 1637.

Rebutia is named for Pierre Rebut, who lived from 1830-1898. This French wine grower lived at Chazay d’Azergues and grew cacti.

Peyote (Lophophora williamsi) is named for Williams, who first extracted the alkaloid from this narcotic plant.

In Latin names, any plant with ‘cinerea’ in its name means it will be gray-colored. So this indicates that Copoiapoa cinerea could be called the gray Copiapoa. Erythro in a name would refer to red. Looking at the name Denmoza erythrocephala, the red in this name refers to the distinct red spines. It is called the red-headed denmoza.

A plant can be named for any of its various features--whether these are spines, flowers, or the body of the cacti.

The common name, golden barrel cactus, describes both the shape of the plant and the color of the spines.

A number of cacti have cereus as part of their name. The word actually means waxy. The night blooming cereus (Cereus greggii) is native to Arizona.

The strawberry cactus (Echinocereus stramineus) gets its name from its edible fruits. This plant is native to New Mexico and Texas.

The rainbow cactus (Echinocereus rigidissimus) really does display the colors of a rainbow. There are beautiful rings of color in the spines.

The name Opuntia comes from the Greek. Pliny, who lived from A.D. 23-79, mentioned it in his writings, and called it herba opuntia. However, the opuntias are not native to the Old World, but they have now become naturalized there.