HORTUS VEITCHII 



With the introduction of this dwarf race of Begonias, Seden ceased experiment- 

 ing. The hybrids produced had become widely distributed, and many hybridists, 

 both in England and on the Continent, had engaged in the work of improvement, 

 and new varieties appeared each year, but the eighteen hybrids, with the five 

 original species introduced by Messrs. Veitch, form the foundation of the Begonia 

 of to-day. 



The following table gives in a concise form the history of the eighteen hybrids 

 raised by Seden, with the order in which they were produced and the dates of 

 their distribution : 



WINTER-FLOWEKING VARIETIES. 



Since the introduction of Begonia Davisii from Peru probably no species 

 has played a more important part in hybrids and garden varieties than -has 

 B. socotrana. 



The credit of introducing this species is due to Professor Balfour, of the 

 Edinburgh Botanic Gardens, who discovered it during botanical explorations in 

 Socotra, a small island off the Arabian coast, in the Indian Ocean, and one of the 

 most improbable places in the world in which to find a Begonia. 



Tubers, or more correctly scaly rhizomes, of Begonia socotrana were sent, 

 among other plants, to Kew in April 1880, and produced plants which flowered 

 in December of the same year, and the great horticultural merit of the species 

 at once became patent. 



From Kew, by arrangement with the late Director, the stock passed into 

 Messrs. Veitchs' hands and was distributed in 1882. 



Begonia socotrana is a dwarf-growing plant with stout orbicular leaves nearly 

 1 ft. in diameter, and rose-pink flowers of a very pleasing shade, nearly 2 in, 

 across, freely produced in mid-winter. 



460 



