FLOWERING PLANTS II7 



will need a seven or eight inch pot. The 

 plant will be eighteen inches to two feet in 

 height, and will produce many clusters of 

 large, rosy red flowers. 



Probably the best variegated " foliaged 

 begonia is B. metallica. It is a very attrac- 

 tive plant, either in or out of flower. The 

 leaves are from three to six inches long, 

 about half as wide, and the general outline 

 is a sort of oblique heart-shape. The edges 

 are more or less notched. The upper surface 

 of the leaves is green shaded with bronze, 

 giving a lustrous bronze-green eff'ect. The 

 large veins are depressed and very dark red, 

 adding, naturally, to the effect. The flowers 

 are borne in medium-sized clusters, are quite 

 numerous, and bluish white in colour. 



As a result of crossing Begonia metallica 

 with B. sanguinea, a beautiful hybrid (5. 

 Thurstoni) has been produced. The leaves 

 are much the same shape as in metallica, but 

 are a little larger; the colouring is also simi- 

 lar to metallica. The flowers, which are 

 small and rosy white, are insignificant. 



There are two spotted-leaved begonias, 

 B. alho-picta and B. argentea-guttata, either 

 one of which is worth having. The leaves 



