The name of Echeveria

摘要

Among Mexico's finest gifts to the gardens of the world are succulent rosette plants of the genus Echeveria. The name is sometimes misspronounced ECKeveria by analogy with names like Echinocactus and Echinocereus, both for spiny cacti and both from the Greek word for hedgehog; but "Echeveria" has a very different sound and origin. James West explained in the second volume of this journal (and his lesson has helped) that it is ETCheveria, from the Basque name of an early Mexican botanical artist. Thereby hangs a dramatic tale of intensive and dedicated botanical labors, bitter frustration, and pitiful anticlimax.