OPUNTIA. 



85 



leaves described as wanting; tubercles spirally arranged, obtuse, somewhat 4-angled, 5 to 6 mm. 

 broad; areoles somewhat depressed; spines 5 to 7, brown, 3 to 5 cm. long, flexuous, the upper ones 

 erect; flowers borne near the top of the plant, small, soUtary; ovary somewhat woolly below and with 

 short spines above; flower rotate, yellow; fruit dry, white, 10 mm. in diameter; seeds somewhat 

 contorted, bony, glabrous. 



Type locality: In Sierra Pie de Palo, Province of San Juan, Argentina. 

 Distribution: Mountains of Provinces of San Juan and Salta, Argentina. 

 This description, though largely drawn from Dr. Spegazzini's full account of this 

 species, has been amplified from examination made of the type. Dr. Spegazzini refers it 



Fig. 100. — Opuntia weberi. Natural size. 



to the subgenus Tephrocactiis, and we have followed him in this ; but it differs widely from 

 any other known species of that group and its true affinity may be elsewhere. If the plant 

 is leafless, as Dr. Spegazzini's description imphes, this is a most interesting exception to 

 the character of Opuntia. 



Figure 99 is from a photograph of the plant at MoHnos, Argentina; figure 100 is from a 

 photograph of the type specimen in the collection of Dr. Spegazzini, to whom we are 

 indebted for both of these illustrations. 



