200 GENERAL REVIEW. 



gardens. Darwin, in his ' Animals and Plants under Domesti- 

 cation/ also mentions that B. frigida produces some herma- 

 phrodite flowers with an inferior perianth. 



There is still a large unwqrked field in this genus. Seeds 

 grow freely sown on a pan of sandy leaf-mould and peat, 

 covered with a bell-glass or flat pane, and placed in a gentle 

 bottom-heat of 65 to 75. Cuttings of the erect-growing kinds 

 as B. insignis, B.fuchsioides, and others of similar habit root 

 freely in a close case or beneath a bell-glass ; and all the fleshy- 

 leaved species and varieties are readily propagated in quantity 

 by making cuttings of the old leaves by nicking the fleshy ribs 

 or veins beneath, and then pegging down the leaf on a pan of 

 sandy compost. Some cut the leaf into pieces and insert each 

 section as a cutting. Some species of Begonia, especially B. 

 bulbifera, B. diversifolia, B. discolor, B. monoptera, B. Marliana, 

 B. parviflora, and some others, develop axillary buds; and 

 while these buds, which are analogous to those of Liliiim 

 bulbiferum, may be taken off and preserved throughout the 

 winter in paper bags or sent to a distance, they also develop 

 into plants much more rapidly than seeds, and simply require 

 the same treatment. 



Colonel Trevor Clarke, F.R.H.S., has very kindly given me 

 the following notes as to the parentage, &c., of the many 

 hybrid Begonias he has raised during the last thirty years : 



1. B. acuminata x B. fuchsioides. A useful autumn and winter 

 flowering plant, with remarkably handsome habit of growth, now 

 apparently gone out of cultivation. 



2. B. cinnabarina x B. Clarkii. A splendid plant, now lost. 



3. B. cinnabarina x B. Veitchii. A large showy plant. 



4. B. cinnabarina x B. Pearcei. Clear orange flowers; leaf of 

 Pearcei. This is a very effective plant, well worth general culture. 



5. B. Dregei x B. cinnabarina. A very pretty little plant ; was tried 

 out of doors successfully twenty years ago. 



6. B. dipetala x B. cinnabarina. Habit of dipetala, with red 

 flowers ; too much overpowered by the foliage. 



7. B. Dregei x B. insignis. Useful for winter ; of no great beauty. 



8. B. Dregei x B. Pearcei. Vide No. 17. These two were very much 

 alike, but inferior to No. 1 8. 



9. B. Dregei x B. heracleafolia. Curious, but of no beauty. (See 

 No. 13.) 



10. B. Dregei x B. Sutherlandii. The well-known B. Weltomensis. 

 This is one of the most beautiful of all Begonias. 



11. B. discolor x B. cinnabarina. A superb plant, but most difficult 

 to grow. 



12. B. Dregei x B. smaragdina. A rather singular-looking thing, 

 very handsome in foliage. 



13. B. heracleafolia x B. Dregei. The converse of No. 9 ; differed in 

 being larger in all parts and more prostrate. 



14. B. heracleafolia x B. cinnabarina. Illustrative of a bad cross. 



