Ree.. May 20 



Ans. Feb. 26,1855 



Paris March 25,, 1853 



Your Wellborrr 1 s 



Last letter of January l8 f I reeeived here in Paria t , where,, 



unf ortunately l I am not able to answer completel^, as at hone, your 



questions. As concerns first the genus Piloce^eus , we know with füll! 



certainty only the f Towers and berries of E.Curti sii y which; blooms 



annually in our Wardens.. We know less, thowh suf f iciently ( throu.gh 



dry speclmens); the flower of P. senilis ,, and what we know about Iii,, 



is mentioned in my work on p.. 133 - 136». The first species has dis- 



bursed flowers; the wooll is short,, and does not form a cephaliunr 



( and , al so , . P . chrysomallus ) 

 nor a wr^ath Bround the stem. The latter ,| in contrast», has f leres 



termina.tae, e cephalio in apice Gaulis et ranomir - Between these 



species stand others (and snecially P. jnba.tns) , where the flowers are 



pos^. t\ oned whirl-like a round t^e stemr, and where the lana caiosa 



et persistens forms a wreath. May-be these flowers are orisrinally 



terminal; only the stem continues to prrow, and by the number of 



wreaths one can see how often the plant has flo^ered. Also, these 



wreaths are here and there not quite forried, i.e. do not circle com- 



pletely the stem; probably, because on. one half the flowers aborted.. 



If , then, one cannot find on the stem" of a wreath-f orninff,unknowrr 



species reither a cephalium terminale nor anrul i jubatl' , one must 



assume, that it beloners to the Fernas Cereus.. 



Your Wellborn seem to waver in the faith of ny Organization 



if the eacti,, and. I ask you most urgently, not to aba^don the stand- 



point, which' I have given in my preface.« It is calculated for all 



eventualities and happenstances- of the future, and it would be sad t , 



if it wonid not stand up at the first spurt.. Permi t me to prove to 



you, that the enba.rrassm.ent, in which von believe to be, is not a 



real one. - You know, that the character of my 7 tribus has beere 



composed fron, the primary and most inportanf- dif f erence-characteri s- 



