Begonia rex

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

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Read about Begonia rex in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Begonia rex, Putz. Fig. 513. Very hairy: et. a short, fleshy rhizome, from which spring the long-stalked large ovate wavy Lvs., which are hairy and colored a rich metallic green, with a zone of silvery gray: peduncles erect; fls. large, rose-tinted; males 2 in. across, with 4 unequal petals; females smaller, with 5 nearly equal petals; ovary 3-angled, with 2 short and 1 long wing. Assam. F.S. 12:1255-1258. B.M. 5101.— This noble species is the principal parent in the production of the numerous ornamental-foliaged begonias. It has been crossed with a few species in the first place, and then hybrid seedlings have been raised again and again from the progeny. Fig. 513 is a copy of a part of the original figure in Flore des Serres (1857), and is given here for the purpose of showing what this species was like when first known to horticulturists. There are very many named forms, but most of the listed kinds tend soon to pass out. One of them that has persisted, because of the odd quirl to the lf. is Countess Louise Erdoedy (B. Alexander von Humboldt x B. argentea-cupreata) . Fig. 514. Lvs. obliquely cordate, ovate-acute, the smaller of the 2 lobes twisted in a spiral manner, with as many as 4 coils; upper surface silvery, with veins deep green; under surface reddish, pilose. I.H. 31:516. G.C. II. 22:205. Intro. by F. Nemeczek, gardener to Count Erdody, a Hungarian nobleman, in 1884. — Other Rex varieties of unknown or uncertain origin: Louise Closson. Lvs. ovate-acuminate, lobed, veins deep purple, surface blotched with deep purple bronze, metallic luster very bright. Lucy Closson is very similar, but more vigorous, with the blotches more numerous and better distributed. Marquis de Peralta. Lvs. small, margins hairy, numerous silvery spots on surface. Compact, dense grower. Duchesse de Brabant. Lvs. large, purple, margins and surface hairy, otherwise like B. Rex. Louise Chretien. Lvs. green, with a zone of glossy silver towards the center, covered with very small white spots. Count Erdoedy. Silver-white, green- striped along the veins, hairy; lobes twisted into a spiral, hairy. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

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