( 4046 ) 



Begonia nitida. Shining-leaved 

 Begonia ; or Elephant's Ear. 



***************** 



Class and Order. 



MoNOECIA POLYANDRIA. 



( Nat. Old. — Begoniace^. ) 



Generic Character. 



Masc. Calyx o. Corolla polypetala, petalis plerumque 

 4, inajqualibus. Fcem. Calyx o. Corolla petalis 4—9 ple- 

 rumque inaBqualibus. Styli 3 bifidi. Capsula tnquetra, 

 alata, trilocularis, polysperma. 



Specific Character and Synonyms. 



Begonia nitida; fruticosa, elata, foliis oblique ovatis acu- 

 tis obsolete crenatis nitidis, stipulis oblongis cnspidatis 

 carinatis, fl. masc. petalis 4 quorum 2 rotundatis 2 ob- 

 louo'is triplo minoribus, fl. fcem. petalis 5 aequalibus, 

 capsular ala unica maxima subrotundo-ovata. 



Begonia nitida. Dryandr. in Linn. Trans, v. I. p. 159. et 

 in Hort. Kew. ed. 2. v. 3. p. 352. Salisb. « Stirp. Rar. 

 p. 17. /. 9." et Parad. Lond. t. 72. Spreng. SysL 

 Veget. v. 2. p. 625. 



Begonia obliqua. L'Herit. Stirp. Nov. v. 1. p. 95. 



Begonia purpurea. Sw. Prodr. p. °6. 



Begonia minor. Jacq. Ic. Collect, p. lib. 



This is one of the many handsome species of a Genus 

 which, we have before remarked, is not so much cultivated 

 as it deserves to be, a native of Jamaica and introduced to 

 the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew (where our figure was 

 made) by Dr. Wm. Brown, in the year 1777 It bears its 

 large, copious, showy flowers during most of the sumn ei 



