 Many sources state that the name was bestowed by Linnaeus.However, Linnaeus died in 1778, more than eleven years before the plant was introduced into Europe, so he could not have been the one to honor his former student.It is most probable that first attempt to scientifically define the genus was done by Abbe Antonio Jose Cavanilles, Director of the Royal Gardens of Madrid, who received the first specimens from Mexico in 1791, two years after Dahl's death.