[Plate 14.] 
THE TWO-PETALLED BEGONIA. 
(BEGONIA DIFETALA.) 
A hothouse herbaceous plant from the East Indies, belonging to the order of Begoxiads. 
■g-jpwtSc Character. 
WO-PETALLED BEGONIA.-Single-stemmed, erect. , BEGONIA DIPETA LA .-Shnplicicaulis erecta, caule 
Stem and petioles quite smooth. Leaves obliquely eordate, petiolisque glabris, foliis obhque c ^ datl \^™^: 
*««,*. :—._ -. , , ..._._*: . j 12— k~ „«;„«i^ cft _ e ^wft.ti« sunra pilosis immaculate 
acuminate, doubly serrated, ciliated with soft spines, 
hairy upon the upper side, nearly smooth on the under ; 
not spotted. Flowers in loose few-flowered pendulous 
cymes. Petals 2, roundish, heart-shaped, 
fruit rounded, nearly equal. 
Wings of 
duplicato-spinuloso-serratis supra pilosis 
subtus glabris, cymis paucifloris laxis pendulis, petalu 2 
subrotundis cordatis, capsule alis rotundatis suba^qualibus. 
& 
Begonia dipetala : Graham in Botanical Magazine, t. 2849. Loddiges' Botanical Cabinet, t. 1730. 
he genus Begonia is now taking in gardens the place which it deserves, for it is certainly one of the 
richest in brilliant colours, or variety of form ; and in the hands of good managers it is one 01 
fte most easily cultivated of all known genera. The blossoms too appear for the most part during 
the wint er months, and keep well when cut for the decoration of sitting rooms. 
. But it must be confessed t hat among the many species now in cultivation, a large number aw rerj 
^correctly named, so that the whole business of arranging the genus, and reducing it tc .order ,to* 
StlU t0 1* undertaken. The first step to a proper arrangement is the determination o tj^W 
«itutes a Begonia, for the genus has now become almost as foil of diverse forms as the o d Wan 
Orchis. As 
take into account 
— ^ uiou oicjj tu lius il appears uwvssuiy *w 
name Begonia to those, winch, like that before us, hav< . . „..,,. 
^uble pl ac e nte under the separate genus Diploclinium. (See Vegetable frngdom, V ™N 
Among the species which will have to be referred to Begonia proper, if it » ^"^ 
Present, which, although long since introduced, is by no "" " mrn - ° 
with 
^serves to be. 
Ie aves as being 
and 
figur 
itrik 
Loddiges 
