Begmia.'] lxvi. BfiGONiiCE^. (C. B. Gkrke,) 635 



Va*.? Hooieri; seeds ■withotit any wing.— Ehasia Mts., alfc. 3000-4800 ft.; 

 J. I>, a— Ths example is a stout leafiest one -With large ripe fruits. The seeds are 

 in ritu in the capsule so that the tring cannot have bedn broken off (as happens with 

 seeds of Zanonia kept Beparate)t This may be an aeeidental var. of A. oUmgera or it 

 may be a new ffptcies. 



Obseb LXYL BEG0MXA,0E^. (% 0. B. Olarke.) 



. Succulent herTss of nndershrubs ; stem often reduced to a rhizome or tubef . 

 Leaves alternate (sometimes falsely whorled in S. veHieillata), more or less 

 unequal-sided, entire toothed or lohed ; stipules 2, free, frequently deciduous. 

 Pemncles axillary, ditdded into dichotomous cymes, the 'brandies and bracts 

 at their divisions generally opposite. Flowers white rose or yellow, showy, 

 sometimes small, monoecious. Maze : perianth (of the only Indian gentls) of 2 

 outer Taivate opposite sepaloid segments, and 2-0 inner smaller segments; 

 stamens indefinite often very many, free or monadelphous, anth^s narrowly 

 obovoid. Feiujle: perianth (of the only Indian gemia) of 6^2 segments. 

 Orniy inferior (in BMdebrandia half-superior)^ 2-3-4-celled ; placentas vertical, 

 azUe (at flie time of aestivation), divided at simple ; styles 2-4, free Or com- 

 bined at the base, stigmas branched or tortuous; ovules very many. Frvit 

 capsular, more rarely succulent, often winged, variously dehiscing or irregularly 

 breaking up. Seeds very many, minute, globose or narrow ($ylfaidricy testa reti- 

 culated: albumen very acan^ or 0. — ^Distmb. Species 400 (of whidi 398 

 belong to the genus Begonia)^ in all tropical moist countries ; not yet met with 

 in Australia. 



1. BEOOXrXA, Lim. 

 Character of the Order. 



Sect. I. Casparya. Stamens numerous, shortly monadelphous ; anthers 

 nanowly oblong, connective slightly produced^ ohtnse. Ovary 4-ceUed (in B. 

 CandoUei 3-ceUed)y placentas 2-fid or 2-paftite. lYudt more or less fleshy, ilot 

 dehisdng on the faces ; carpels not much compressed, nor hating their backs 



educed into a thin wing. (None small : leaves in all very unequal at the 

 e.) 



1. B. Boxburg^hii, A. DC, Prodr. zv. pt. i. 398 ; stem lengthened with 

 iofloieBcence (Mustered near the axils, leaves ovate nearly glabrous sinuate-toothed 

 scarcely serrate, fruit subpyramidal 4-ceUed very succulent angles obtuse eading 

 in 4 smaU horns upwards. Kvrz in Jowrn. As. Soo. 1877, pt. ii. 107. B. mala- 

 barica, iloxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 64S, not of Larnk. DiploClinium KoXburghii, Miq. Fl. 

 Ind. Sat. i. pt. i. p. 692. Oasparya? oligocarpa and polycarpa, DC. I^odr, xv. 

 pt. 1276,277. 



EroM NtPAi to BoKMA ; not uncommon in ICortb and Bast BaimAt with Assam, 

 ascending to 4000 ft. 



_ Soot fibrous, not tuberous. Stem usually 1-3 ft., erect, suptfuleut, glabrous or 

 minutely pubescent when young. Leaves 6-9 in., acuminate, glabrous or minutely 

 pubescent on the nerves of both surfaces ; petiole 2-5 in. ; stipules lanceolate, gla- 

 brous, deciduous. Cymes short, axillary, dichotomous, with narrow lanceolate linear 

 bracts, often few-flowered, producing but one or two fruits from each axil. Mam Ft.: 

 Sepals 2, large, glabrous, nearly white; petals Usually 2, smaller than the- sepals, 

 white or nearly so ; stamens aboiit 50. Female : ovary cells 4 ; placentas very 



