Origin of "Exocarpos". Duncan Cunningham

Taxonomic naming convention requires an acknowledgement of the first person to name, in this case, the genus Exocarpos - first described by Jacques Labillardière when in Australia in 1791-94. Again convention dictates that the taxon is often expressed as Exocarpos Labill. 1798.

Deep diving into the journals of Labillardière reveals that on 7th of May 1792 he described the fruit and seed arrangement (with the seed outside the fruit) thus providing the name exo+carpos = Excocarpos. Here is what he actually said: “I discovered an evergreen tree, which has its nut situated, like that of acajou, upon a fleshy receptacle much larger than itself. I therefore named the new genus exocarpos.”

Note that Labillardière chose exocarpos, not pus.

The relevant journals, translated into English in 1800, can be found here in the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL): Relation du Voyage à la Recherche de la Pérouse 1: 155. 1800. (Voy. Rech. Pérouse), P. 198. 07 May 1792.

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/79817#page/214/mode/1up

Posted on Αύγουστος 22, 2023 0459 ΠΜ by duncanmc42