BEGONIA MARTIANA. 
(Von Martius' Elephant's Ear.) 
Class. Order. 
MONCECIA. POLYANDRXA. 
Natural Order. 
BEGONIACEiE. 
Generic Character.— Male flowers— Calyx wanting. 
Corolla polypetalous. Petals commonly four, unequal. 
Female Flowers—Calyx wanting. Corolla with from 
four to nine petals, generally unequal. Styles three, 
bifid. Capsule triquetrous, winged, three-celled, many- 
Specific Character. — Plant a perennial. Stem 
smooth, striated, semi-transhicent, covered with a 
thin glaucous bloom. Leaves obliquely ovate, deeply 
and unequally indented at the margins, smooth, 
shining green. Petioles longer than the leaves. Pe- 
duncles usually two-flowered, more than twice as long 
as the pedicel. Flowers large, rich crimson purple. 
Petals serrated at the edges. 
With the exception of B. coccinea, and one mentioned by Mr. Ilartweg, 
there is perhaps no species of Begonia yet known that produces flowers of a finer 
colour than the present. Most of the members of the genus have blossoms vary- 
ing from a pure white to a pale blush ; but in the species before us, we have a 
rich and delicate crimson pink. 
It is a plant of perennial duration, with tuberous roots, which demand con- 
siderable care and watchfulness to preserve their vitality through the winter. The 
stems are beautifully striated and transparent, like those of the Balsam, and are 
clothed with neat foliage of a rather diminutive size. The blossoms are large, 
and sufiiciently abundant to impart a most inviting aspect ; and the smallness of 
the leaves only becomes a fault when the plant is kept in a dry atmosphere, or 
otherwise mismanaged during the growing season. 
We have little to communicate respecting its native country. It is said to 
be a production of Brazil ; from whence, according to our Botanical Catalogues, it 
was transmitted to England in 1829. 
Our acknowledgments are due to R. G. Loraine, Esq., of Wallington Lodge, 
for the plant from which our figure was drawn. The superiority of this spe- 
cimen to the ordinary appearance of the species is a sufficient testimony of the 
benefits conferred by attentive and appropriate management. Superior specimens 
were also produced last summer in the stoves at Pineapple-place, and at the 
Exotic Nursery, Chelsea. 
Like many of its congeners it soon betrays the effects of injudicious or careless 
treatment. We point to this, more especially, because its attractiveness is so 
