89 
BEGONIA albo-coccinea. 
White and Scarlet Begoma. 
MONCECIA POLYANDRIA. 
Nat. ord. Beconiacea. (BrcoNiaps, Vegetable Kingdom, p. 318.) 
BEGONIA. Supra, vol. 4. fol. 284. 
B. albo-coccinea ; acaulis, foliis obliquè ovatis obtusissimis subreniformibus 
peltatis coriaceo-carnosis sublobato-sinuatis glaberrimis longitudine 
petiolorum, petiolis appresso-hirsutis, sepalis 2 exterioribus rotundatis 
(extus coccineis) reliquis minoribus obovatis (albis), fructu turbinato 
3-alato alis latis subeequalibus.— Hooker in Bot. Mag. t. 4172. Donald 
in the Journal of the Horticultural Society, vol. 1. p. 136. Placentee 
simplices. 
Whoever shall apply the requisite leisure and skill to an 
examination and comparison of the numerous species belong- 
ing to the order of Begoniads, will be rewarded by a rich 
harvest of discovery. But he must look to something beyond 
the stem, the leaves, and the wings of their fruit, if he makes 
any pretence to a philosophical inquirer. It is in the seeds, 
placenta and floral envelopes, that sound characters are to be 
sought, upon which sections and genera may be founded, 
instead of the vague characteristics hitherto employed. 
This inquiry is attended by no difficulty, for our gardens 
are full of living species, and the specimens preserved so 
copiously in modern herbaria are generally. examinable 
enough. It will, however, be unsatisfactory if conducted 
without reference to the minute anatomy of the genus. 
It has already been proposed to separate from Begonia 
the genus Eupetalum, founded on the B. petalodes, figured 
at fol. 1757 of this work, and Diploclinium distinguished by 
its large double placentee. These are, however, mere indica- 
tions of structure, and have yet to be applied to the great 
mass of species belonging to the order. We are ourselves 
without the leisure to prosecute the inquiry, and therefore we 
make no attempt on the present occasion to determine whether 
this may not be a species of Eupetalum ; but we republish 
it under the name already given it by Sir Wm. Hooker. 
It was first raised in the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, 
from seeds said to have been obtained from the East Indies 
(India), by a gentleman at Twickenham, and has thence 
P 
