Tas. 7685. 
BEGONIA Hemsrryana. 
Native of Yunnan. 
Nat. Ord. Brcontacex. 
Genus Brconta, Linn. ; ( Benth. & Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. i. p. 841.) 
Beconta (Platycentrum) Hemsleyana; dense coespitosa, radice tuberosa, tuberi- 
bus carnosis fasciculatis fusiformibus, caulibus 1-1}-pedalibus parce ra- 
mosis petiolisque gracilibus elongatis erectis puberulis pallide roseis, foliis 
palmatipartitis, segmentis radiatis lanceolatis acuminatis remote serratis 
sessilibus v. in petiolulum brevem angustatis glaberrimis supra lete viri- 
dibus rubro anguste marginatis penninerviis, stipulis ovato-lanceolatis 
herbaceis, pedunculis axillaribus petiolis longioribus glaberrimis, cymis 
dichotomis paucifloris, bracteis lanceolatis caducis, floribus roseis, mase. 
sepalis 2 ovato-rotundatis subacutis, petalis 2 multo minoribus oblongo- 
ovatis, staminibus in capitulum globosum brevissime stipitatum dense 
confertis, filamentis gracilibus antheris pyriformibus apice rotundatis 
zequilongis, loculis lateralibus, fl. fem. longius pedicellatis nutantibus, 
perianthii segmentis 5 equalibus oblongis obtusis, ovario 2-loculari 
3-alato, ala una multo majore oblonga apice rotundata, stylis 2 subsessili- 
‘bus stigmatorum crucibus brevibus spiraliter incurvis, fascia stigmatosa 
continua, placentis septo medio insertis bipartitis undique ovuliferis, 
capsula latiore quam longa pendula 3-alata, alis 2 brevibus tertia fere 
pollicari oblonga apice rotundata nervis validis costata, dehiscentia inter 
alas breviores imperfecte operculari. 
The discovery of a palmatipartite-leaved Begonia in the 
Old World is a very remarkable one, the few known 
species with this character being all American. £8. Hems- 
leyana has, however, no affinity with the latter; it belongs 
to the section Platycentrum of A. de Candolle (Prodr. vol. 
xv. p. 3847), which is represented by eighteen species in 
India, and is regarded as a sub-genus by C. B. Clarke, in 
his paper on Indian Begonias (Journ. Linn. Soe. vol. xviii. 
p- 118). Its nearest ally is an undescribed Chinese species, 
also discovered by Dr. Henry, in which the leaves are 
orbicular, and seven to nine-lobed to the middle. 
B. Hemsleyana was raised in the Royal Gardens, Kew, 
from seed collected at Mengtse; in Yunnan, at an elevation 
of four thousand to five thousand feet, by Dr. Henry, 
F.L.S., in 1898, who describes it as a very pretty plant, 
a foot to a foot and a half high. It flowered freely and 
NovemBER Ist, 1899. 
