BOTANICAL INDEX, 
35 
I hope that these explanations, which you desired to have, will interest you; and 
in case you should make any use of them in your Botanical Index, you will confer 
a favor on me by addressing to me such numbers as will contain them. 
VARIETIES OF BEGONIA DISCOLOR-REX. . 
I: [Sent out for sale the first time in October, 1878. First Prize awarded at the great International Flower Exhibi- 
tion at Versailles, August, 1878. First Prize awarded at the Autumn Flower Exhibition of Bordeaux, 
September, 1877.] 
The following varieties are placed on sale, with the accompanying description : 
1. — Mine. Svalin. 
Very large and magnificent foliage, fully able to compete with the most beautiful 
varieties of the hot-house ; of a purple color in the beginning, turning into a dark 
green bronze, all spotted with silvery white; in the free air, strewed with a carmine- 
red; stems, petioles, and the back of the leaves, a purple-red. A robust plant, with 
thick and strong stems, and a imsrnificent bearing. Price : one plant, 12 francs. 
3. — Soucenir de Dr. Weddell. 
Plant dwarfish, bushy, with small foliage, but of a coloring extremely remarkable; 
the inferior (under) face is of a dark blood-red, the superior (upper) face is strewed 
and pointed with spots and white dots, all of which is covered with a very marked 
rose color; the young leaves of a lively rose; altogether of a very attractive coloring. 
Price : one plant, 10 francs. 
4 . — Edward Andre. 
Plant having the vegetation, the vigor, the size and form of the leaves of the 
B. discolor ; flowering early. Very beautiful foliage; in its young age, of a dark 
purple, turning successively into a bronze-antique uniform color, with very brilliant 
reflections ; the back of the leaves and the petioles of a dark red. A distinct and very 
beautiful variety. Price : one plant, 10 francs. 
5. — Luciennt Bruant. 
A rustic plant; half shrubby, very compact foliage ; of remarkable vigor. Large 
leaves, cordiform, with a bright green inferior (under) face, rose washed around the 
edgings, which are shaded into purple; the superior (upper) face of a dark green, 
all spotted and strewed with points of a silvery-white ; a magnificent variety. Price : 
one plant, 10 francs; three plants, 20 francs. 
6. — A Carricre. 
Plant with a branching and gracious form ; of a nice foliage, entirely covered with 
a silver-colored and metallic white; spotted with carmine when grown; the back of 
a light rose, with purple edges; free bloomer. Price: one plant, 10 francs. 
7 . — W. E. Gumbleton. 
A very vigorous plant; very thick, robust stems; bloom abundant; leaves very 
large; the inferior (under) face of a tender green, rose washed; superior (upper) face 
a lively green around the edges, with a shading of grey, lead color, very metallic. 
A variety remarkable for itsluxuriant vegetation. Price : one plant, 10 francs; three 
plants, 20 francs. 
8. — Countess Gabrielle de Clermont-Tonnerre. 
Plant of medium size, compact and abundant foliage of a particular form, undu- 
lating and figured. At first its leaves are of a lively rose with sparkling reflections, 
turning successively into divers shades, up to a rosy-grey with green edges; its infe- 
rior face and petioles are of a dark purple-red; a very beautiful grouping of colors. 
Price : 12 francs. 
10. — Marguerite Bruant. 
Leaves of medium size, fine form, ending in a sharp point, with a silvery-white 
drawing upon a meadow-green ground, its back of a tender rose. A vigorous plant, 
of very robust and rapid growth, forming pyramidal thickets with a very leafy base. 
A variety with a great prospect for summer massing or bedding. Price: one plant, 
10 francs; three plants, 20 francs. 
[Nature has been very lavish in her gifts to the vegetable kingdom, and man by 
his efforts has added many strange combinations to these forms. In this case the art 
of man has succeeded in uniting two seemingly opposite forms (although of the same 
family) into a vigorous and healthy hybrid, preserving the characters of both, for 
which Mr. Bruant has also united the specific names of both parents as a general 
name for his hybrids. In reading his descriptions, however, we are almost inclined 
to think that Discolor -Splendens would have represented the original species more 
correctly than Discolor-Rex, as it seems evident to us that the Splendens, or silver-leaf 
variety, is the hot-house variety used for fertilizing the flowers of B. discolor. 
Begonia Splendens has a silvery-white leaf, veined and bordered with green, and is 
