THE HISTORY OF THE BOTANICAL MAGAZINE xh 
BEGONIAS. 
Begonia Evansiana, a native of Eastern Asia, was figured 
in the Magazine as long ago as 1812 (pl. 1473), and the 
still highly valued B. incarnata (B. insignis), from Mexico, 
in 1829 (pl. 2900); B. fuchsioides is the subject of 
pl. 4281, and B. cinnabarina of pl. 4483; but the Begonia 
era did not actually begin until some years later. In 1852 
the handsome-leaved B. xanthina, from India, was pub- 
lished (pl. 4683), and in 1859 Begonia Rex (pl. 5101), from 
the same country ; the next plate representing B. xanthina 
var. pictifolia. These were the parents of a numerous 
family of varieties having large ornamental foliage. Passing 
many other species, B. boliviensis (pl. 5657) was, I believe, 
the first of the showy tuberous-rooted species from the 
Andes. This was quickly followed by B. Veitchii 
(pl. 5663), B. Clarkei (pl. 5675), and many others. What 
they have yielded in the hands of florists is not a matter 
of history, but still in evidence. Linnwus, who only estab- 
lished the genus from Plumier’s drawings, did not know a 
single species, and Willdenow described only twenty-five 
in 1805. In 1864 De Candolle described upwards of 350, 
and subsequent discoveries have doubtless increased this 
number to quite 400; and more than sixty of these species 
have been depicted in the Magazine, while numerous florists 
varieties have appeared in publications more especially 
devoted to such plants. 
OUVIRANDRA. 
Ouvirandra fenestralis, the Water Yam or Laceleaf 
(pl. 4894), is a most curious plant, and may well be re- 
carded as one of the wonders of the vegetable kingdom. 
The intrepid traveller and accomplished botanist, Aubert 
du Petit-Thouars, discovered it, and published a description 
of it at the beginning of the present century, and in 1837 
it was figured from dried specimens in Delessert's cones 
Selecte Plantarum; but it was not till 1855 that living 
plants of it were brought to this country by the late Rev. 
. Ellis, whose admirable writings on Madagascar, its 
people, and products, constitute the basis of nearly all 
subsequent literature on the same subjects. He presented 
two plants to the Royal Gardens, Kew, where they flowered 
towards the end of the year, and the figure cited above 
appeared in January, 1856. A second species of Ouvi- 
randra (O. Berneriana), from the same country, Is repre- 
