BEGONIA CONFERENCE. 



159 



species brought into notice for its foliage, was cultivated by Mr. 

 Colville, of Chelsea, in 1822. B. insignis and B. semperflorens, 

 still retained in the list of winter-flowering species, were brought 

 from Brazil in 1828, and four years later B. sanguined was sent 

 from the same country. About this time, but coming from a 

 very different part of the world — viz. Nepal — B. picta, which 

 deserves to be better known than it is, was cultivated in the 

 Botanic Garden at Glasgow. 



The first tuberous Begonia cultivated in British gardens was 

 the aberrant B. octopetala, introduced from Peru in 1835. It is 

 certainly a species that should not be lost sight of, for, although 

 a somewhat coarse-looking plant, its flowers are large and 

 should impart a new feature by hybridisation ; in fact Froebel 

 of Zurich has already raised some meritorious hybrids, in 

 the parentage of which this species has participated, which 

 are said to have a superficial resemblance to the Japanese 

 Anemones. 



During the decade 1840-50 some useful additions were made to 

 the stock of cultivated Begonias, and, although some of them 

 have since receded before more showy forms of later discovery, 

 they have a claim to our recollection. Among the first of these 

 -was B. coccinea, sent to our Exeter firm in 1841 by William 

 Lobb from the Organ Mountains. B. alb o -coccinea, a still more 

 handsome Indian species, with white flowers and red footstalks, 

 was introduced in 1843 ; B. fuchsioides was sent by Purdie from 

 New Granada to the Royal Gardens at Kew in 1846. B. cinna- 

 barina, a non-tuberous species with red flowers, was raised by 

 Messrs. Henderson from seed sent to them from Bolivia by 

 Bridges in 1850. In the same year B. rubrovenia and B. 

 xanthina were introduced from North-east India, the first- 

 named of these two with the larger petals of its male flowers 

 veined with, red, and the latter with yellow flowers and hand- 

 some foliage ; the first is doubtless lost to cultivation, but the 

 other is still with us, and has played its role as one of the pro- 

 genitors of the foliage group of Begonias, in which also B. 

 Griffithii, from the same region as B. Bex and B. xanthina, 

 has also probably participated. "With these three species 

 should be associated B. Thivaitesii, introduced shortly after- 

 wards from Ceylon, and B. gogoensis, which came later from 

 Sumatra. 



