Arnold > Found this referring to the name of the Genus [Hippeastrum]: > El nombre Hippeastrum deriva del griego y significa "estrella del caballero", fue elegido por el > reverendo William Herbert en 1821 para describir a la primera especie del g?nero, Hippeastrum > reginae. La etimolog?a no parece ser en este caso de mucha ayuda para describir alguna > caracter?stica particular de la especie o del g?nero en cuesti?n. La conexi?n "equina" en la > denominaci?n de este g?nero fue realizada por primera vez por el bot?nico sueco Carlos > Linneo quien denomin? "Amaryllis equestris" a una especie que hoy llamamos Hippeastrum, > ya que la ve?a sumamente parecida a las especies africanas del g?nero Amaryllis. Qu? es > lo que pens? Linneo cuando denomin? "amarylis del caballo" a esta especie quiz?s nunca se > sabr?, no obstante, una acotaci?n en la descripci?n de la misma en una revista de bot?nica > de 1795 puede arrojar alguna luz sobre el tema. William Curtis en esa revista, al describir las > dos partes de la espata que cubren los pimpollos coment? que los mismos "se levantan en > un cierto per?odo de la floraci?n de la planta, como si fueran orejas, dando a toda la flor un > gran parecido con la cabeza de un caballo". Aparentemente Linneo estuvo totalmente de > acuerdo con la observaci?n de Curtis cuando decidi? bautizar a la especie.1 A?os despu?s, > el De?n William Herbert, un bot?nico y cl?rigo del siglo XIX que fue una autoridad en las > amarilid?ceas, se dio cuenta que ?a pesar que son superficialmente similares? estas > plantas sudamericanas no estaban estrechamente relacionadas con las azucenas de enero > o azucenas del Cabo (Amaryllis belladonna). Por esta raz?n, Herbert las separ? del g?nero > Amaryllis y acu?? un nuevo nombre gen?rico que manten?a la conexi?n ecuestre de Linneo, > a pesar que de un modo un tanto complicado. Herbert escribi? en 1821: "Las he denominado > Hippeastrum o Lirio estrella del caballero, continuando con la idea que dio origen al nombre > equestris". No obstante el esfuerzo de Herbert en distinguir ambos g?neros, la mayor?a > de los aficionados a las plantas ornamentales contin?an denominando amarilis tanto a > las plantas del Viejo como a las del Nuevo Mundo. David pointed out: > That is the Spanish wikipedia article: > https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/… And here is a translation: [There seem to be some errors and omissions in this text. I have put my notes into brackets like this. I looked things up in Tropicos.] The name Hippeastrum derives from the Greek, signifying "knight's star." Reverend William Herbert chose it in 1821 for the first species described in the genus, Hippeastrum reginae. [Linnaeus named Amaryllis reginae in Systema Naturae, Editio Decima 2: 977. 1759. Herbert transferred it to Hippeastrum.] Etymology does not seem, in this case, to help delineate any significant characteristic of the species, or genus, in question. An "equine" nomenclatural connection in this genus originated with the Swiss botanist Carl Linnaeus, who chose the name Amaryllis equestris for a species we now know as a Hippeastrum, because it was so similar to the African genus Amaryllis. [Linnaeus did name the genus Amaryllis. However, Aiton named Amaryllis equestris in Hort. Kew. 1: 417. 1789. It is now known as Hippeastrum puniceum (Lam.) Kuntze.] What Linnaeus was thinking when he named the "horse amaryllis" perhaps nobody will ever know; nevertheless, some commentary in an article on the same species, in a botanical journal of 1795, may shine some light on the problem. William Curtis, in this journal, while describing the two parts of the spathe covering the flowers, commented that they were held, during a certain part of the flowering of the plants, as though they were ears, lending the the inflorescence a great resemblance to the head of a horse. [That was a quote from Curtis translated into Spanish; I do not have the original at hand, so I will not use quotes for my translation, because I don't know what words Curtis chose.] Apparently, Linnaeus was totally in agreement with Curtis when he decided to name this species. [See my previous note - Linnaeus did not name Amaryllis equestris.] Years later, William Herbert, a botanist and clergyman of the 19th Century, who was an authority on amaryllids, pointed out that, despite being superficially similar, these South American plants are not closely related to January lilies, nor to Cape lilies (Amaryllis belladonna.) For this reason, Herbert separated them from genus Amaryllis, and chose a new generic name that maintained the equine connection, though the reasoning still appears a little complicated. Herbert wrote, in 1821: I have called them "Hippeastrum", or "Knight's star lily", maintaining the concept that led to the name "equestris." [Again, I am translating, back into English, Herbert quoted in Spanish. I have not used quotes around the words because I don't know which words Herbert actually used.] Despite Herbert strongly distinguishing both genera, most plant hobbyists continued calling plants from both the New and Old Worlds "amaryllis." Leo Martin Zone 9? Phoenix Arizona USA _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@mailman1.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/