B. ‘Marshallii’

Marshalli – Leaves very large, the margins and very center dark green, while the greater portion of the surface is covered with a silvery grey.

Another splendid Begonia! But this one is no longer purebred; it is a hybrid resulting from Begonia rex fertilized by pollen from Begonia splendida argentea. It comes from seedlings planted by Mr. R. Franklin, gardener to Mr. James Garth Marshall of Leeds, who gave it his name.

According to Mr. Fish, a famous English enthusiast, the Marshall Begonia is the most beautiful of the hybrids produced by Begonia rex; in this respect, it surpasses Begonia rex itself and its Grandis variety

The leaves are 18 to 20 centimeters long and 14 to 15 centimeters wide. A broad, irregularly bordered silvery area covers most of the leaf blade, leaving a bronze star with very unequal branches in the center, and outside this a marginal band of the same color, speckled, like the star itself, with white mottling. The underside of the leaf blade is pink carmine; the petiole, which is of the same shade, is 30 to 35 centimeters long, and bristly here and there with long white hairs.

The cultivation and propagation of this beautiful hybrid being identical to those of Begonia rex, we will simply refer the reader to the latter.

Let us note, in passing, that hybridization offers the enthusiast an inexhaustible source of new acquisitions, and that by skillfully combining species, one has a chance of obtaining products that surpass them in beauty. The hybrid in question here is a striking proof of this.

• Classification: Cultivar
• Plant Type: Rex Cultorum
• Origin: Europe, UK
• Originator: Mr. R. Franklin
• Date of Origin: 1861