B. acida

Journal of the New York Botanical Garden. Lancaster, Pa.: Published by the New Era Printing Co. 1900-? v. 39-40 (1938-1939) Page 256-8 http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/98365 Two Begonia Names Clarified: A Begonia of distinctive appearance which has been cultivated for many years in American gardens as B. brasiliensis and sometimes as B. ecuadoriensis is clearly wrongly labelled under either designation for the trivial name Brasiliensis belongs rightly to a slender, upright-growing, pink-flowered plant first described by Klotsch in 1854, while the binomial B. ecuadoriensis has no good botanical standing. The plant commonly grown as B. brasiliensis is actually B. acida, a native of Brazil and originally described by De Candolle in 1864. In cultivation, this species enjoys a higher temperature than do most begonias and seems to thrive best under greenhouse conditions when accorded a night temperatures of 60-65°F. Begonia acida has a more or less creeping rhizome and bright green, conspicuously rugose leaves which are nearly orbicular, and measure to 9” in diameter. The upper leaf surface is furnished with short bristly hairs, and on the under surface the leaves, like the petioles, are densely covered with thick white or pink hairs which are often laciniate. From December to April the inflorescences are borne, the flowers being carried high above the foliage on peduncles which are two feet or more long. In the bud stage the inflorescences are nodding, but they become more upright as they mature. The flowers are about 5/8 of an inch in diameter, creamy white or sometimes faintly pink-tinged, the males four petaled and the females five petaled. The ovary wings are white, and one of them is egg shaped and very much larger than the other two. Except for the fact that the hairs on the rhizome are depicted in a formalized style so that they resemble divided scales, the illustration of B. acida on Vellozo’s “Florae Fluminensis” vol. 10, plate 49, correctly depicts our plant.

• Classification: Species
• Plant Type: Shrub-like
• Botanical Section: Pritzelia
• Origin: America, Brazil
• Originator: A.DC.
• Date of Origin: 1864

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