Etymology
The family name Ebenaceae is based on the genus name Ebenus Kuntze, published in 1891. That name is a later homonym of Ebenus L., a genus in family Fabaceae, and is thus illegitimate. The plant that Kuntze had named Ebenus was accordingly reassigned to the genus Maba, which in turn has since been included in the genus Diospyros.
However, because the family name Ebenaceae had become so well known, being used in major botanical references such as Bentham and Hooker's Genera Plantarum, Engler and Prantl's Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien, and Hutchinson's Families of Flowering Plants, it was conserved and is therefore legitimate.
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Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
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