Tas. 4988, 
BEGONIA WaceEnErRIAnNa. 
Wagener’s Begonia. 
Nat. Ord. Beaonracr™.—Monacta PoLyANDRIA. 
Gen. Char. (Vide supra, TaB. 4172.) 
— 
Brconta Wageneriana ; erecta, flexuosa, glaberrima, caule ramisque teretibus, fo- 
. liis sublonge petiolatis ineequilateraliter cordatis brevi-acuminatis subnitidis 
— leviter angulatis crenato-serratis, cymis longe pedunculatis repetitim dicho- 
“ tomis, floribus masculis disepalis, sepalis suborbicularibus, floribus foemineis 
5-sepalis, sepalis parvis viridibus oblongo-spathulatis subinzequalibus, brac- 
teis 2 parvis oblongis ciliatis, capsule alis 2 angustis tertia maxima trique- 
tra, stigmatis ramis elongatis spiraliter tortuosis. 
Moscuxowi1tTzi1a Wageneriana. Klotzsch, Begoniacee, p. 77. 
. 
Native of Venezuela, where it was detected by Mr. Wagener, 
and sent to the Royal Gardens of Kew from the Berlin Garden 
under the name of Moschkowitzia Wageneriana. The genus is 
formed by our excellent friend Dr. Klotzsch in the work above 
quoted. Of course opinions will differ as to the importance 
given by this indefatigable botanist to the characters which con- 
- stitute genera in Begoniacee. For ourselves we deem it to be 
the most accordant to nature to preserve the old genus Begonia 
(with perhaps some exceptions) intact, and consider the so-called 
generic distinctions recently suggested as sectional characters. - 
At any rate, before such genera can be finally decided upon, the 
numerous species, comparatively unknown to Dr. Klotzsch, of 
India and other parts of the old world, should be taken into ac- 
count. The present is a stove plant and a free flowerer, but 
rather of straggling habit. It is remarkable for the white or 
cream-white cymes of two-petaled (mostly) male flowers, and 
the pale-green cymes of five-petaled (mostly) female flowers, 
with their long twisted lobes or branches of the style. It flowers 
in the spring months. : 
Descr. Our growing plants of this are from one to two feet 
high, glabrous in every part, and of a palish-green colour. Stems 
JUNE Ist, 1857. 
