months, when its copious bright sulphur-coloured flowers 
with the red eye (the cluster of stigmas) give it a beautiful 
and showy character. 
PreirrerR, who seems alone to have described this spe- 
cies, remarks that the young and adult plants are very 
different ; the former being of a deeper green; with the 
areole crowded; the aculei longer, more rigid, and brown. 
The adult he describes as three to four inches in diameter, 
two to three high: the areole six to eight lines long, dis- 
tant: the aculei five to six lines long—Our plant is of 
larger dimensions than that now specified, as seen by our 
figure. The form is subglobose, but depressed at the top, 
and narrowed at the base : the colour a rather deep some- 
what glaucous green. The sides are cut into about sixteen 
deep, vertical furrows, and as many prominent, crenated 
ridges. The crenatures are from half to three quarters of an 
inch apart, and in them is lodged a tuft of dense white wool, 
which is nearly obsolete in the lower crenatures. From 
these woolly crenatures arise the aculei, which are in num- 
ber from seven to nine, spreading, rigid, five to six lines 
long, pale brown, deeper at the base, having besides a 
central, erecto-patent one, generally of an uniformly deep 
brown colour, and about equal in size to the rest. Flowers 
several from the crown of the plant, rich sulphur yellow, 
two inches in diameter, when fully expanded. Tube exter- 
nally shaggy with brown wool. Petals in two or three 
rows, spathulate, crenate and almost laciniated towards the 
apex. Stamens numerous, pale yellow, crowded around 
the style. Stigma with the rays erect, bright scarlet. 
Fig. 1. 2. Front and side view of an Areola, with Aculei, 
SiG ne ET ge ana el F een 
