St. Louis, Mo. Dec. ?>, 1883 



Dear Doktor Weber 



1 just receive your interesting letter. Now I ask you for 

 I. or 



all the world, how could /anybody reeognize Labouret's and Pfeiffer 1 s 

 Cereus pruinosus ( not certain of Speeles, E.D.) in the Plauts by 

 Parry t That is a real new proof f that it is inpossible to study cac- 

 ti,if one does not start at the beginning.. Here we have a plant known 

 for 50 years in. Wardens, 20 years rpo you saw it in Mexico a^d did 

 not reeoflr^ize it; 5 years acro Pa^y collect s it with flowers = 

 fruits f and these too were not recogrized, until the seeds germinate 

 and produ.ee young plants. On these little plants we must now rely ! 

 Can we do that before they are 10-20 years older ?By the way f I 

 find a conf irmation your stateneut in a note to Parry, that he 

 had seen only a cultivated speciraen in St. Louis (the one drawn) • 

 The fruit is supposed to be known everyplace as Pitakaya and in 

 markets; the spines are easily wiped off, the flesh is tasteless but 

 refreshing. At times the fruit have a diameter of 2 inches. 



The deseription says, that the furrows disappear later a^d be- 

 come quite flat. Parry* s crossection did rot show this at all( this 

 is the one I sketched). Later nore. ToH a .y I have tine only for 

 t h. e s e r e mark s • 



Can you read my hasty writing ? Can you determine» what the man* s 

 name i s, for whom Pereskia is naned: Peyese, Peiresc or Pegresc 

 or sk My corresponderts in southern France cannot help me. Sone- 

 place it says: Peyresc,rich repoeiant de Toulon (rieh inhabitant of 

 Toulon) t other places Nicolas Fabricius Peiresc of Aix.member of 

 Parlieraent. I would like to deternine the orthography. 



I think we should get our ninds together about my planned wörk 

 0^ Cactus. Maturally, it deals primarly with the cacti of the North 

 American Flora, but I would like to include as many others, as I 



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