THE BEGONIA TRIBE. 57 



of all the species, the two-coloured Bei/oma(B. discolor, 

 Plate XXXI. 1.). The flowers of this plant grow in 

 a kind of cyme, at the ends of the branches ; each of 

 the ramifications of the cyme has a pair of concave sti- 

 pules at the base (fig. 1.) ; the flowers stand upon slender 

 flesh-coloured stalks, and are partly sterile, partly fertile. 

 The sterile flowers consist of two larger obtuse pink 

 sepals (fig. 1. b.), and two petals of the same colour. 

 In their centre you have a round ball of anthers, the 

 filaments of which are united into a common stalk ( fig. 

 1. c). The anthers are club-shaped, fleshy, yellow 

 bodies (fig. 2.), having a curved pollen-cell on each side. 

 The fertile flowers (fig. 1. a. & fig. 4.) have a 

 calyx and corolla like those of the others, only the 

 latter has frequently but one petal. Beneath the calyx 

 is a fleshy thick part, having three unequal wings (fig. 

 4.), divided into three cells internally (fig. 6.), with 

 two plates or placentae, covered with minute ovules, in 

 each cell. Of course this part is the ovary ; it is 

 terminated by three stigmas, each of which (fig. 5.) 

 has two twisted hairy lobes. 



The fruit, when ripe, is a thin brown case, beauti- 

 fully marked with deeper coloured veins, and havino- 

 three wings, of which one is very much larger than the 

 others (fig. 7.). It contains a multitude of small seeds 

 (fig. 8.) of an oblong form, and covered with a net- 

 work, the meshes of which are disposed with wonder- 

 ful regularity ; those at the two ends being always 

 contracted and small, while the intermediate ones are 

 long, with parallel sides ; so that if a slice were cut 

 off" the lower end, the remainder would have quite the 

 appearance of a gothic church window. The embryo. 



