76 THE TUBEROUS BEGOXIA. 



the typical or wild form of which differs in the structure and general appear- 

 ance of its flowers from the rest. B. socotrana is said to belong to the 

 African section, Augustia, from which it differs only in small and unimportant 

 characters, such as the male perianth consisting of four segments, in having 

 shorter filaments, in the six instead of five-lobed female perianth, and in the 

 untwisted arms of the style. These characters, with the exception of the 

 last, show B. socotrana to be closely allied to the pretty fleshy or tuberous - 

 rooted species, B. geranioides, from Natal. The annual character of the stem 

 of B. socotrana and the production of bulbils at its base are, independently of 

 the flowers, sufficiently strong features that militate against the free crossing 

 or interblending of the summer- flowering class with this Old World type. Add 

 to this that the placentas or seed-bearing organs of the former are deeply bifid 

 and often again lobed, while in B. socotrana they are entire, and the anthers 

 are club-shaped, so it may be granted that the difficulties of obtaining hybrids 

 between the two types are by no means a small matter. This may explain 

 the paucity of hybrids or crosses up to the present time ; but the fact should 

 not be allowed to damp the ardour of workers in this particular direction, 

 for it must be remembered that B. Sedeni, one of the first hybrids of any 

 importance amongst the South American group, was but a poor production 

 compared with the huge-flowered varieties which now exist. After a few 

 crosses have been made between B. socotrana and the summer-flowering 

 varieties, and these again have been intercrossed with one another, the 

 progeny may become as fertile as tT.e latter. 



THE FIRST HYBRID RAISED JOHN HEAL. 



THE first hybrid, and taking all things into consideration, perhaps the 

 most important that has yet been obtained, was raised by Mr. John Heal } 

 one of the foremen in the nursery of Messrs. Veitch and Sons, and very 

 properly bears his name. Mr. Heal is one of the most zealous of hybridists, 

 though, perhaps, at present his labours amongst the Amaryllis or Hippe- 

 astrums, and his numerous hybiid greenhouse Rhododendrons, are better 

 known than his silent doings amongst the Begonias. Begonia John Heal 

 is the direct result of crossing B. socotrana (seed parent) with Viscountess 

 Doneraile (pollen parent), itself the result of crossing Monarch with the 

 hybrid B. Sedeni. The variety John Heal may then be tolerably safely 

 said to contain within itself the blood of three distinct botanical types or 

 sections, represented by B. socotrana (section Augustia), B. Sedeni (section 

 Barya), and Monarch (section' Huszia). It is very dwarf almost stemless, in 

 fact with the foliage crowded together, and almost lying on the surface of 

 the soil in which the plant is grown. The leaves individually are obliquely 

 heart-shaped, slightly lobed and crenated at the margin, of an intense deep 

 green colour, and of great substance. The branches of the inflorescence 

 spread gracefully above the foliage, bearing a profusion of bright rosy carmine 



