Bol. Soc. Argent. Bot. 56 (1) 2021
nor name of the plant collector was mentioned. Weber’s 1870 and stopped in 1893 when Schlumberger died
personal notes and letters received from Schlumberger (Catrix et al., 2020).
about this plant have recently been found; among these
In a letter dated August 28, 1886, Schlumberger
documents, there is a reference to a colour drawing tells Weber: “… j’ai greffé la tête (la moitié) de
made at the time of the first discovery, which will be votre opuntia australis;” [I have grafted the head
designated here as neotype. An herbarium specimen, (one half) of your opuntia australis;]. Later, in 1887
which was collected at the same time as the drawing (August?): «… Votre fameux Opuntia Australis a
was done and living plants were collected, was also émis sur le petit morceau que vous avez greffé une
found, but there is no evidence that it was seen by belle et vigoureuse pousse qui ne ressemble pas au
Weber prior to the publication of O. australis. The petit chétif individu greffé. Elle a en ce moment 3 c.
various documents found are described and commented l sur 2c diam et parait devoir faire une belle plante.
below.
J’avais greffé la tête l’année dernière, mais quoique
bien reprise elle pousse mollement.» [… Your
famous Opuntia Australis that you have grafted,
has produced a nice and vigorous offset that is not
as puny-looking as the graft. It is 3 cm long and 2
materIalS and methodS
A research into Weber’s documents at the main cm in diameter and it will probably produce a nice
library of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle plant. Last year, I grafted the head, and although it
in Paris led to the discovery of two documents at the has recovered well, it grows slowly]. The text that
botany library of the same institution, a sketchbook, and we have underlined in Schlumberger’s citation and
a notebook, which had been used by Weber. Additional translation suggests that the plant had first been
research into their origins uncovered interesting received and grafted by Weber and then given to
historical facts about the expedition they had come Schlumberger. However, there is no indication of
from, and about other contemporary French expeditions when and where Weber got the plant from.
in the same area, which can help to understand the
Three personal notes by Weber deal with O.
origin of Patagonian plants described at the time. A australis:
research into the herbarium of the same institution (P) A) Undated:
also discovered a specimen of this species collected by “Op. australis. La fleur jaune paille sort tout à fait de
the same expedition.
l’extrémité de l’article dans lequel elle est comme
immergée” [the straw-yellow flower emerges from
the absolute tip of the article in which it seems to
be immersed]
reSultS
B) Beginning of undated text (probably from 1886-
87); then, an addition dated 1889:
Weber’s notes
It is known that Weber had an active “Opuntia australis; greffé sur Op. subulata chez
correspondence with many botanists and amateurs
who were interested in cacti at that time (Catrix et
al., 2019 and 2020). Some of these documents are
held at the main library and the botany library of
the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris
M. Schlumb. article cucumériforme forme de
cornichon 8 cm long. 2½ largeur et épaisseur
vert foncé avec teintes violacées — consistance
molle, mamelonné — mamelons disposés en séries
spirales à base large arrondie, portant à leur
sommet ou plutôt sur leur page supérieure une
aréole peu duveteuse blanchâtre, avec 12 ou 15
aiguillons blancs transparents rayonnants; de plus
au sommet de l’aréole qques petits aiguillons très
fins et courts, sétiformes, 2 aiguillons centraux,
foliacés, recourbés, ascendants, cinérés ayant une
certaine analogie avec ceux de l’Ech. capricornis.
(MNHN hereafter), and have been studied by one of
us, J.-R. Catrix, who found Weber’s personal notes
and letters from Schlumberger, in an archive file
referenced as “Per K 160”, kept at the main library
of MNHN.
Frédéric Émile Schlumberger (1823-1893) was
a rich and gifted private plant grower who lived
near Rouen in France. He grew and received plants 1889 — L’article greffé devient très prolifère à la
on Weber’s behalf, and prepared herbarium sheets
exclusively for Weber. Their cooperation started in
longue; les jeunes articles portent au sommet des
folioles promptement caduques, longues de 1 mm,
46