B. 'Mrs. Hoffman’

Shortly before the beginning of the last war the firm: of Van Houtte in Ghent, Belgium, displayed at flower shows at Ghent' three new, valuable bush begonias:' 'Axel Lange', 'L. H. Russel' and 'Frau Hoffman'.. Although two-'L. R. Russel' and 'Frau Hoffmann' remind one strongly of the rex-begonias produced by crossing B. rex with B. diadema, this is not the case. In the production of these new sorts not. two but a number of parents were' utilized besides. the already mentioned rex; B. Griffithi and 'President Carnot' played a role.

In contrast is 'Frau Hoffman' with the amaranth red tone dominating the underside of the leaf as well as the center of the upper side. On the upper side with a center of amaranth-red the color runs out to silver grey at the margin. It is named for the wife of Herr Hoffman, seedman in Budapest, Hungary.

The pride of the trio is B. X MRS. HOFFMANN, as it is named in the 1937 Russell Catalogue,
Begonias and if my wide collection of had to be reduced to half a dozen, I doubt if I could exclude this. I have an old plant of this over 3 ft. high and nearly as wide, but as usual, smaller plants of around 18" seem the most attractive. There is much variation in the beauty of the leaf under differing growing conditions, but at its best it is a glorious dark crimson, with hardly any trace of silvering, and the quality of the leaf is most distinct, being like silk brocade. Poorer grown plants show more silvering and paler colouring.

It is very much on the lines of B. 'Abel Carriere,' but far superior in texture and colour. B. 'Abel Carriere' is a Rex-Evansiana cross, but there seems little of B. Evansiana in B. 'Mrs. Hoffman', unless the tree-like habit. The stems are covered with downy hair, and the plant is quite happy in 40 deg. winter night temperature, is a sign of at least one nearly hardy parent, such as B. Evansiana. It surprising plant that such a first class should still remain with" parentage unregistered. Currently it is being catalogued over here as B. 'Mrs. Hooftman'.

• Classification: Cultivar
• Plant Type: Rex Cultorum
• Origin: Europe, UK
• Originator: Russell
• Date of Origin: 1937