12 THE TUBEROUS BEGONIA. 



The flowers or leaves, or both taken together, are often very showy, so that of 

 the 350 known species it is not surprising that a large number of them have 

 been introduced from time to time. Both in Britain and on the Continent 

 especially the work of introduction continues to be prosecuted. B. nitida, which 

 was brought from Jamaica in 1777, seems to have been the first introduction to 

 this country, but up till 1800 only five species seem to have been in cultivation. 

 Since then, till now, however, they have increased in number with greater or less 

 rapidity, according to the zeal of cultivators or the fashion of the times. Several 

 tuberous-rooted species have been introduced from time to time, but the advent 

 of the six tuberous species from South America within comparatively recent 

 years, and which are described in another chapter, has given a fresh impetus to 

 their cultivation ; and the immensely improved and numerous progeny that 

 has been derived from them, now occupies a permanent position in the routine 

 of culture in hundreds of gardens. 



Although upwards of half of the 350 known species have been introduced, it 

 will be germane to our purpose in a work like the present to group in sections 

 those only in which we are specially concerned. , B. boliviensis, introduced in 

 1864, belongs to the section Barya, which is characterised by the filaments being 

 united, forming a long tassel -like column, and by the bifid placentas. Another 

 species, B. monadelpha, having the same characters, does not seem to be in culti- 

 vation. The staminal column is a well-marked feature, and the sepals are also 

 greatly elongated and narrow. B. Clarkei, B. Veitchii, B. rosseflora, B. Fearcei, 

 and B. Davisii, all belong to the section Huszia, having free stamens, bifid 

 placentas, and the stigmatic surfaces forming a papillose spiral line surrounding 

 the branches of the styles. The first three mentioned have larger, rounder 

 flowers and broader sepals than B. boliviensis. 



BEHAVIOUR UNDER CULTIVATION. 



As might be expected, the size and shape of the flowers have been greatly 

 altered by the effect of so much cross-breeding, hybridisation, and cultivation ; 

 but, from a botanical point of view, the most important and remarkable changes 

 that have been accomplished relate to the doubling of the flowers, in which 

 greater monstrosities and a more remarkable metamorphosis of parts occur than 

 in those of any other natural order. The male flowers are those which most 

 frequently become double, while the female ones on the same plant are usually 

 single. Some of the earliest obtained double flowers were evidently derived from 

 B. boliviensis, and were poor, ragged things, with scattered petaloid segments 

 along an elongated axis. Since then, however, some of the grandest types of 

 double flowers have been obtained from the same species, as may be witnessed in 

 Messrs. John Laing and Sons' collection at Forest Hill. Some of the largest- 

 flowered types more resemble a truss of a double scarlet Pelargonium than 

 anything else. The sepals often remain of no great size, while the stamens 

 become resolved into broad, flattened petaloid structures, bearing branches in 



