161 



BEGONIA MEYERI. 



{Meyers Begonia.) 



LINNEAN SYSTEM. ^ Q jgQ NATURAL ORDER. 



MONCBCIA POLYANDRIA. BEG-ONIACE^E. 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Begonia (Lin.) Masc. Corolla nunc 0, nunc tetra-petala. Calyx polysepalus • sepala 

 plerumque (non semper) inaequalia. — Foem. Corolla nunc 0, nunc'tetrapetala. Calyx sepalis 

 4-9 plerumque insequalibus. Styli 3 bifidi rarius multifidi. Capsula triquetra, alata, trilocu- 

 laris, polysperma. — (Flor. Cab. vol. i. fol. 51.) 



Male. Corolla sometimes none, sometimes 4-petaled. Calyx many-sepaled ; sepals generally 

 (not always) unequal. — Female. Corolla sometimes none, sometimes 4-petaled. Calyx with 

 from 4 to 9 sepals, generally unequal. Styles 3, 2-cleft, rarely many-cleft. Capsule 3-sided, 

 winged, 3-celled, many-seeded. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 



B. Meyeri; caulescens villosissima ; foliis carnosis utrinque villosis insequaliter cordatis 

 acutis obsolete repando-dentatis, supra pallide virentibus 'subtus incanis ; stipulis late ovatis 

 marcescentibus ; fioribus masculis 4-petalis, petalis exterioribus concavis subtus villosis ; floribus 

 foemineis. 



Caulescent, very hairy ; leaves fleshy, hairy on both sides, unequally cordate, acute, with an 

 obscurely toothed or rather repand margin, pale green above, hoary beneath ; stipules broadly 

 ovate, withering ; male flowers 4-petaled, external petals concave, hairy beneath ; female flowers. 



Begonia Meyeri.— Otto, MSS. 



Desor. — Stem erect, thick, a foot or more in height, pale, and densely villous. Leaves 

 villous on both sides, exceedingly soft to the touch, pale green above, of a hoary whiteness 

 beneath ; petioles from two to three inches long, flattened and canaliculate on the upper side. 

 Stipules broadly ovate, acute, densely villous, semi-amplexicaul. Peduncle terminal, about four 

 inches long, dividing into two or three compact clusters, with a bractea at the base of each 

 division : bracteas small, ovate, acute. Male flowers 4-parted, white, with a slight blush of 

 pink, two external rounded, concave, densely hairy beneath ; two internal smaller, obovato- 

 oblong. 



This very distinct species of Begonia was received at the Birmingham Botanic 

 Garden from the Royal Botanic Garden at Berlin, in 1838. It is a stove shrub, 



VOL. III. NO. XXXV. JANUARY, 1840. Y 



