FLOWERING PLANTS 



117 



will need a seven or eight inch pot. The 

 plant will be eighteen inches to two feet in 

 height, and will produce many clusters of 

 large, rosy red flowers. 



Probably the best variegated foliaged 

 begonia is B. metollica. It is a very attrac- 

 tive plant, either in or out of flower. The 

 leaves are from three to six inches long, 

 about half as wide, and the general outline 

 is a sort of oblique heart-shape. The edges 

 are more or less notched. The upper surface 

 of the leaves is green shaded with bronze, 

 giving a lustrous bronze-green effect. The 

 large veins are depressed and very dark red, 

 adding, naturally, to the effect. The flowers 

 are borne in medium-sized clusters, are quite 

 numerous, and bluish white in colour. 



As a result of crossing Begonia metallica 

 with B. sanguinea, a beautiful hybrid (B. 

 Thurstoni) has been produced. The leaves 

 are much the same shape as in metallica, but 

 are a little larger; the colouring is also simi- 

 lar to metallica. The flowers, which are 

 small and rosy white, are insignificant. 



There are two spotted-leaved begonias, 

 B. alho'picta and B. argentea-guttata, either 

 one of which is worth having. The leaves 



