THE CULTIVATED SPECIES OF BEGONIA. 



181 



Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons in 1867. A near ally of B. Veitchii 

 and B. Clarkei. It is stemless, with leaves on fleshy, decumbent, 

 reddish, hairy petioles ; the blade reniform, lobulate, green 

 edged with red. Peduncles stout, hairy, 4 inches to 6 inches long, 

 usually 3-flowered ; males 2 inches in diameter, 4-petalled, full, 

 rich rose-red ; females smaller, with five equal petals ; ovary 

 hairy, with short wings. 



B. rubricaulis (Bot. Mag. t. 4131). — Introduced to the Bir- 

 mingham Botanic Garden in 1844 ; country unknown, probably 

 American. Eootstock tuberous. Petioles 4 inches to 6 inches 

 long, fleshy, hairy, crimson; leaf-blade ovate, 4 inches to 6 inches, 

 wavy, ciliated along the margins, deep green. Scape, 12 inches 

 to 18 inches high, crimson and hairy like the leaf-stalks, bearing 

 a branched panicle of large handsome flowers; males 1\ inch 

 across, with five equal concave red-tinted petals ; females smaller, 

 with six equal petals ; ovary with two very short wings, the third 

 ^ inch long. 



B. sanguined {Bot. Mag. t. 3520). — Introduced from Eio de 

 Janeiro in 1823 to the Berlin Botanic Garden. Stems perennial, 

 woody at the base, red. Leaves subpeltate, obliquely cordate, 

 thick, fleshy, shining, bright green above, blood-crimson below. 

 Peduncle a foot long, red, bearing a dichotomous cyme of small 

 white flowers ; males with four unequal, females with five sub- 

 equal petals ; ovary 3-angled, green. A handsome evergreen 

 foliage Begonia, worthy of a place in all large collections of stove 

 plants. It flowers in April. 



B. Schmidtii (Gartenflora, 1879, t. 990). — Introduced from 

 Brazil in 1878 by Messrs. Haage & Schmidt. A dwarf herba- 

 ceous plant, never exceeding a foot in height, with obliquely 

 lobed, toothed, hairy green leaves, reddish underneath. Flowers 

 numerous, on short axillary peduncles, white tinted with rose, 

 § inch across ; males with four, females with five unequal 

 petals ; ovary 3-angled, equal winged. A free-flowering little 

 plant, useful for summer bedding. It has been crossed with 

 several other species. 



B. semperflorens (Bot. Mag. t. 2920). — Introduced from 

 Brazil in 1828 to the Liverpool Botanic Garden. It is a 

 variable plant, the form represented in the Botanical Magazine 

 being one of the poorest. The plant is probably annual when 

 wild. Stems herbaceous, smooth, green or reddish, 6 inches to 



