Gerardia

Translingual

Etymology

  • Etymology tree
    Frankish *Gaiʀahardbor.
    Old French Gerartder.
    Middle English Gerard
    English Gerard
    Ancient Greek -ίᾱ (-íā)der.
    Ancient Greek -εύς (-eús)?
    Ancient Greek -ιᾰ (-iă)
    Ancient Greek -εια (-eia)der.
    Latin -ia
    Translingual Gerardia

    From English Gerard (surname) +‎ Latin -ia. The botanical genera are named after English herbalist John Gerard (1545–1612).

    Proper noun

    Gerardia f

    1. (obsolete) Several taxonomic genera:
      1. (botany) [1753-1836] A taxonomic genus within the family Acanthaceae – a type of purple flower, see Stenandrium.
      2. (botany) [1836-1956] A taxonomic genus within the family Orobanchaceae – a type of purple flower, see Agalinis.
      3. (zoology) [1864] A taxonomic genus within the family Parazoanthidae – a type of hexacoral, see Savalia.
      4. (zoology) [1954-2015] A taxonomic genus within the family Tenebrionidae – a type of darkling beetle, see Piccula.

    Usage notes

    • In botany, Linnaeus' original 1753 description of Gerardia included one specimen of Stenandrium and four of Agalinis; this error was first established in 1810, but disagreement over the rules of nomenclature resulted in the name Gerardia being officially rejected for either taxon in 1956 and 1959, respectively.[1]
    • In zoology, Gerardia was accepted as the name of Piccula for over 60 years before taxonomists realized the name hadn't been available, already discarded as a superfluous name of Savalia almost a century earlier.

    References

    1. ^ Vinicius Castro Souza, Juliana de Paula-Souza, Maribeth Latvis (2025), “Proposal to conserve Agalinis, nom. cons. against the additional name Esterhazya (Orobanchaceae)”, in Taxon‎[1], volume 74, number 4, page 994
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