Denisonia

Den·i·so·nia .den-ə-'sō-nē-ə, -nyə n a genus of venomous Australian snakes of the family Elapidae including the copperhead (D. superba)

Den·i·son 'den-ə-sən Sir William Thomas (1804-1871)

Australian statesman. Denison was governor of New South Wales from 1854 to 1861. In his spare time he was an avid conchologist. In 1860 he appointed as a curator of the Australian Museum Johann Ludwig Gerard Krefft (1830-1881). Krefft was an all-around zoologist but specialized in snakes. His published works include some 200 articles and a book-length work on the snakes of Australia. One of the species described was the Australian copperhead, which he named Denisonia superba after his benefactor.

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Den·i·so·nia (den″ĭ-soґne-ə) a genus of highly venomous snakes of the family Elapidae; D. superґba is the copperhead of Australia and nearby Pacific islands. See table at snake.