Cultivar
B. ‘Octopetala Lemoinei’
Photos
1 photo
Identity
- Genus
- Begonia
- Name
- B. ‘Octopetala Lemoinei’
- Originator
- Lemoine
- Date of Origin
- 1874
- Place
- France
- Country
- France
- Region
- Europe
- Plant Type
- Tuberous
- Publication Reference
- C;GC
- Article References
- The Garden, v. 35, 1889
Plant
- Description
- Garden and forest; New York: The Garden and forest publishing co. 1888-97. v. 2 1889: pg. 597 http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/107316 Begonia octopetala hybrida Lemoinei. - This plant was introduced in the spring of 1889 by M. Lemoine, of Nancy, with the statement that it is the result of a cross made some years since between the white flowered B. octopetala and some of the best of the tuberous section. The corms do not differ materially from those of B. octopetala, and start into growth naturally in June, throwing up numerous rather coarse leaves of a character intermediate between the parents and nearly radical. The flowers, borne on rigid foot-stalks, twelve to eighteen inches long, in clusters of four or five, on my plants are about two inches in diameter. Each plant throws up 5 – 8 flowering stems. The variety ‘Anemone’ came into bloom in October, followed by ‘Fleur d’Automne’ in November, but at the end of that month the variety ‘Ville de Nancy’ shows no sign of blossom, though it is as strong as the others. The flowers have all been males on my plants. As the leaves and flowers, thrown well above the foliage, have a distinct and pleasing port, this cross is likely to prove of some value in the fall when the hybrid tuberous kinds are about over., though one regrets the absence of female flowers, so that with the vigor of the Octopetala parent we might infuse more size and substance into the blooms. Such crosses might also refine the foliage. B. octopetala is somewhat impatient of root confinement, and perhaps this hybrid could be successfully cultivated planted out on a greenhouse bench, though in such a position it would occupy valuable room in return for a comparatively short season of bloom. If the varieties of new winter-blooming hybrids of B. Socotrana continue to improve and increase in variety, the Begonia season for large blooming tuberous kinds will be so extended that there will be little difficulty in securing a continuous display of these showy flowers during the entire year. F.N. Gerard.; The Garden, v. 35, 1889 B. octopetala ‘Lemoinei’: Amongst the many achievements of M. Lemoine, of Nancy, is the crossing of the white-flowered Begonia octopetala with, as described in his note, the "finest of the tuberous section." An engraving of the variety ‘Lemoinei’ we are enabled to give, and this will show that a new race has been instituted which will, or ought to, interest English gardeners. We let M. Lemoine speak for himself about this novelty: I beg to send you a photograph taken from a specimen of a new race of autumn flowering tuberous Begonias, and which may, perhaps, be of some interest to your readers. It is the result of a cross which I made some years ago between the white flowered species B. octopetala L'Heritier and some of the finest of the tuberous section. As you may judge from the photograph, the new B. octopetala ‘Lemoinei’ is one of the handsomest that I have raised. The root is somewhat irregular, lengthened, black, and intermediate in form between the long root of B. octopetala and the spherical-shaped corm of a tuberous sort. The herbaceous, stem is very short, so that the leaves seem to be radical. These are broad, undulated, of a glossy green, and with round hairy stalks. The plant bears six to eight erect hairy flower stalks, which are large, 2 feet high or less, and each supporting from five to seven flowers. These individually attain the size of 3 inches or more across, and are composed of six to eight large oval petals, which have somewhat the shape of those of Anemone japonica or Anemone fulgens, A great range of colors, from pure white to scarlet, with various shades of pink and carmine, is already to be found in this new class, which produces a beautiful show of blooms at a season when the brightness of the tuberous Begonias is over. The photograph was taken on November 10, 1888, in my nursery from a variety with pink flowers; they are one sixth natural size. - V. LEMOINE.
Lineage
Parents
No parentage recorded.
Descendants
No recorded descendants.
Culture
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