The Etymology of Turbinicarpus names.

The Generic names.

• Turbinicarpus -- From the two Latin words for "top shaped" and "fruit", referring to the shape of the ripe fruit.
  • Gymnocactus -- From the Latin word for "naked" ???.
  • Normanbokea -- Named after Norman Boke.
  • Rapicactus -- From the Latin word for "turnip", referring to the shape of the root.
  • Pelecyphora -- From the two Greek words for "hatchet" and "bearing", referring to the shape of the tubercles.
  • Strombocactus -- From the Greek for "top", referring to the shape of the plants.
  • Neolloydia -- Named after Prof. Francis E. Lloyd, by N.L. Britton and J.N. Rose.
  • Thelocactus -- From the Greek for "nipple", referring to the tubercles.
  • Toumeya -- Named after Dean James W. Toumey, by N.L. Britton and J.N. Rose.
  • Lodia -- Named after Prof. Giuseppe Lodi, by Alessandro Mosco and Carlo Zanovello.

The species, variety and form names.

Specific, varietal and form names are listed in alphabetical order, i.e. to find the full meaning of the name T. schmiedickeanus sub. rubriflorus, you must look for schmiedickeanus and rubriflorus.

• albiflorus -- White flowered.
• alenae -- ?
• alonsoi -- Discovered by Alonso García Luna.
• andersonii -- Discovered by Edward F. Anderson
• beguinii -- Discovered by Abbe Beguin.
• bonatzii -- Discovered by H.J. Bonatz.
• booleanus -- Named after George Boole Hinton.
• brevispina -- Shorter spined.
• canescens -- "Becoming grey".
• cirrhiferus -- "tendril bearing", possibly referring to the tendril like spination.
• dickisoniae -- Discovered by Shirley Dickison.
• donatii -- Discovered by Davide Donati.
• dubeniorum -- Named after T. Duben.
• ellisae -- Named after the Ukrainian cactus enthusiast Natalia V. Ellis.
• flaviflorus -- Yellow flowered.
• francii -- ?
• gielsdorfianus -- Named after Karl Gielsdorf.
• gonzalezii -- Discovered by Miguel Angel González Botello.
• gracilis -- Slender, possibly referring to the slender spines and/or tubercles ?
• hiemalis -- "Belonging to winter", referring to the winter flowering period of this plant.
• hintoniorum -- Named after the family of George S. Hinton.
• hoferi -- Discovered by Anton Hofer.
• horripilus -- "With harsh (rough) hair", probably in referring to the spines.
• jarmilae -- Named for Jarmila Halda the wife of Josef J. Halda.
• jauernigii -- Discovered by J. Jauernig.
• klinkerianus -- Named after Christian Klinker.
• knuthianus -- Named after Count F. M. Knuth of Knuthenborg in Bandholm (Denmark).
• krainzianus -- Named after Hans Krainz.
• kubesi -- Named after a Mr. Kubes, Josef J. Halda's travel agent perhaps!!
• kupcakii -- Named after Peter Kupcák
• kvetae -- Named for Kveta Chvastek the wife of Jaromir Chvastek.
• laui -- Discovered by Alfred Lau.
• laureae -- ?
• lausseri -- Discovered by Alfons Laußer.
• lilinkeuiduus -- A misspelling of klinkerianus.
• lophophoroides -- Lophophora like, looks very much like a Lophophora with spines.
• macrochele -- Large-clawed, referring to the claw like spination.
• major -- Larger than usual.
• mandragora -- Refers to the Mandrake like shape of the tap root.
• minimus -- Smaller than usual.
• mombergeri -- Discovered by Peter Momberg.
• neglectus -- "Neglected", referring to the fact the plant had been long known, but remained undescribed for a long time.
• nelissae -- Named after Nelissa Panarotto, the daughter of Paolino the Turbinicarpus enthusiast and nurseryman.
• nieblae -- Named after Sergio Niebla Álvarez
• pailanus -- Comes from Sierra de la Paila, Coahuila, México.
• panarottoi -- Discovered by Paolino Panarotto.
• paoli -- Named after Paolino Panarotto the Turbinicarpus enthusiast and nurseryman.
• planiziel -- ?
• polaskii -- Discovered by Charles and Mary Polaski.
• preenii -- Discovered by Roger Preen.
• pseudomacrochele -- Similar to macrochele.
• pseudopectinatus -- Similar to pectinatus.
• pulcherrimus -- "Beautiful".
• rioverdensis -- Comes from Rio Verde, San Luis Potosi, México.
• roseiflorus -- Red flowered.
• rubriflorus -- Red flowered.
• saueri -- Discovered by Georg Sauer.
• schmiedickeanus -- Named after K. Schmiedicke.
• schwarzii -- Discovered by Fritz Schwarz.
• septentrionalis -- "northern", referring to the fact that this taxon is the northernmost member of its group.
• sphacellatus -- "With brown or blackish speckling", probably referring to the spination.
• subterraneus -- Underground, referring to the underground tap root.
• swobodae -- Discovered by Heinz Swobodae.
• valdezianus -- Named after Möller's wife's family name, Valdez.
• valteri -- ?
• verduzcoi -- Discovered by J. Verduzco.
• viereckii -- Discovered by Hans-Wilhelm Viereck.
• wrobelianus -- Named for Uschi Wrobel.
• ysabelae -- Named after Ysabel Wright.
• zaragozae -- Comes from Zaragoza, NL. Which is in turn named for General Ignacio Zaragoza who defended Mexico during the French Intervention (1862-1867).

References

To build this page I have made extensive use of the following references:

1. BOTRTS: Roots of Botanical Names -- An excellent resource by Karen Fletcher.
2. "Botanical Latin" By William T. Stearn
3. The plant cards from Kakteen und andere Sukkulenten

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