B. minor

Culture

Original Botanical Description or Link to

Curtis's botanical magazine, v. 69 = ser. 2, v. 16, 1842 B. minor as SYN B. nitida: This is one of the many handsome species of a genus, which, we have before remarked, is not so much cultivated as it deserves to be, a native of Jamaica, and introduced to the Royal Botanic Garden of Kew, where our figure was made by Dr. Wm. Brown, in the year 1777. It bears its large, copious, showy flowers during most of the summer months, when it makes a fine appearance., with its pink panicles, and large glossy foliage. Description: Stems erect, or nearly so, for they require support, from four to five feet high, between succulent and woody, branched. Leaves large, glossy, especially the younger ones., green on both sides, petiolated, obliquely ovate., acute, thick and succulent, obscurely crenated at the margin. Petioles about an inch long, terete. Stipules large, membranaceous, oblong, mucronate and carinate, deciduous. Panicles terminal and axillary, many-flowered; flowers large, handsome, especially the staminiferous ones, which are an inch and a half across: Petals four, of which two opposite ones are large, rounded, deep rose color, the two smaller ones broadly oblong, inclining to yellow, all of them spreading: Stamens twenty or more, as in the genus. Pistilliferous flowers with five nearly regular and equal petals, rose-colored. Germen and mature fruit with three wings, two of them comparatively small and equal, the third very large, somewhat triangular., or between ovate. and subrotund.; As B suaveolens Revue horticole. Paris: Librairie Agricole de la Maison rustique 1829-1974. Anne 1883: Page 83 http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/196490 Another of those old species of which we hardly speak any more, and which we find scarcely any more, although it is most meriting. However, relative to his name, I would not dare to say that it is scientifically exact. Indeed, according to Steudel (Nomenclator botanicus, p. 193), B. suaveolens, Hort., Which has many synonymies. would be annual or biennial, which is not the case for the plant of which I speak, which is woody or at least subfrutescent. Its general characteristics are as follows: Very vigorous plant, with twigs, subligneuse at its base. Stems voluble, relatively sharp, smooth bark, glaucescent or greyish. Buds shining bright green, glabrous, shiny bark and varnished. Petiole large, cylindrical, herbaceous green. Thick, fleshy, very large, subcordiform and almost regenerated leaves, whole or scarcely dented, of a green herbaceous green, shining and glabrous on each side, very strong nerves underneath. General peduncle of about 20 centimeters, cylindrical, uncolored, terminates by a very shortly umbelloid inflorescence. Flowers shortly pedicels, small, pink pale red, finely and agreeably fragrant. This plant would not be the Begonia odorata, Willd., Which is indicated as ligneous, and considered by some authors as a synonym of B. diptera, which may seem all the more singular as it is regarded as annual or biennial. Apart from these synonymies, it is the ornamental merit of the plant of which I speak, and which, thanks to the length and stiffness of its peduncles, the making of bouquets, especially since it blooms all winter. The cultivation of this species presents no difficulty; Nevertheless, because of its vigor and its sprouting nature, it should be placed in the ground along a wall or columns, in a greenhouse or a good temperate greenhouse. It is under these conditions that it reaches all its beauty. HOULLET. HOULLET. Begonia nitida, [Dryander] Var. Odorata Alba - By ALICE M. CLARK, San Diego, Calif. All sources seem agreed that B. nitida was the first begonia to be introduced to horticulture. It was sent by William Brown an English navy doctor, from Jamaica to Kew Gardens in England in 1777. It is mentioned in one of the very earliest publications on begonia s by Jonas Dryander in 1791. B. nitida was one of the three living specimens the author had seen out of the twenty-one he described. Because its history goes back so far, B. nitida has many synonyms. It has been “known as” obliqua, speciosa, minor, purpurea, etc." Just when the name, "odorata alba" came in, we do not know. Some time ago, at least in California, the designation "nitida" was attached to a much smaller, bushy type while the taller species was called “odorata alba”. So far, I have been unable to discover what name, covers the small orphan that is now bereft of its good name. There is no dearth of material on nitida. Probably the fine color print and text in Curtis Botanical Magazine, Vol. 16, pI. 4046, 1843, gives us an accurate picture of the plant at that time. It was called "shining leaf begonia or elephant's ear" and its description fits ours of today in almost exact detail. except that the flowers were rose-colored, Mrs. Krauss quotes Mr. Everett of the N. Y. B. G. in The Begonian for April 1944. as follows; "B. odorata alba is not related to nitida nor to the odorata alba of literature. It is not as tall as nitida, is bushier and more branching and, most important. its female flower lacks the conspicuous, persistent bracts at the base of the ovary." Those of us' who saw that wonderful hedge of "odorata alba" at Rosecroft, well over five feet tall, would wonder how it could be higher. That was one place where visitors were easily convinced that begonias were fragrant. But. alas, there were no "persistent bracts." In Les Begonias, Chevalier describes nitida, “Ait” (not Dry), as slightly shrubby, little branched and three feet or higher. Peduncles and pedicels are long, flowers bright rose, and there is one persistent bract on the ovary. In as much as his book was published in 1938 and he described living material, perhaps he has the true variety odorata alba that Mr. Everett mentions, except for the coloring. Chevalier describes another plant. Known to him as B. sauveolus, Lodd., as a rare species, a close neighbor of nitida, with m.:>re numerous and branching stems, red at the base when young. Leaves are narrower, with shorter petioles, reddish at the point of insertion. They are visibly dentate on the edges and shinier on the raised nerves underneath, inflorescences are slenderer, more numerous and thicker. The flowers are white, smaller and without the persistent ovary bracts. All of these traits follow closely those of the plant Mr. Hottes has drawn. In Die Begonien, nitida is only a little over three feet. shrubby and branched, with petioles as long as the leaf and a few large pink flowers, slightly fragrant, carried in a loose head, blooming summer to fall. Rather different from our plant. Mrs. Buxton says there, is a good color plate of B. nitida in Paxton's Magazine of Botany, Vol. 13, with white flowers, flushed pink. According to her. nitida, var. o.a., more frequently grown, has smaller, pure-white flowers. scented with a lily-like odor that is stronger in the morning. In Bailey's, B. nitida has leaves 4 to 6 inches across and pale pink flowers. His description of the var. o.a. tallies with Mrs. Buxton's. The large leaves would make us think that his nitida was var. rosea. In the midst of all this confusion it seems best to use the species name, nitida, which means shining, and couple it with our old friend, var. odorata alba, as the official title for this month's sketch. We shall endeavor to describe it with exactness for comparison with any new discoveries. In California, nitida, var. o.a" grows over five feet high when planted in the ground, with many stalks and branches, requiring good staking. Young stems are red, spotted green at the base, while old ones are a light woody brown. Mostly they are a succulent green. Leaves, 2 ½ by 4 ½ inches, are alternate. with petioles about an inch long, which are red both where they leave the stalk and where they join the leaf. The leaf is well described as "elephant's ear" in form, unfolding from two green, reflexed, pointed, keel shaped, red-tinted stipules. The leaf shines like green patent leather, with lighter-colored veins. It is slightly cupped at first but soon flattens out and even turns back a bit with age. The edge is only slightly irregular, with a pointed tip and definitely no hairs. The back is a frosty green. brighter on the raised veins and red-flushed on the edges when young. The stipules remain but are too dried to be conspicuous. The inflorescence, rising from terminal leaf axils, carries a panicle 10 inches broad and is about equally long. It is quite red with green accents where it branches. The sketch was made from a plant in Mrs. Calloway's garden in La Jolla. It shows a cluster of male flowers and one of female. Actually, the females are hidden in tight pink deciduous bracts. visible in the sketch of staminate blooms, and come to full maturity when the male blooms have all dropped off. The petals of both types open and even reflex, thus making the sparkle of their golden centers more conspicuous. This is contrary to some eastern experience. The staminate flower has four uneven petals; two narrow opposite ellipses and two rounded and wide, white within, with a pink tint on the back, 1% inches across, with an aigrette cluster of yellow stamens. The flowers are pinker when raised in the. sun. The female bloom seems whiter because of the large ovary which has a pale pink tint on largest of its three wings. The five petals are equal in size and well extended to show the unusual oppositely twisted stigmas of' yellow velvet, mostly arranged in three pairs. There have been some interesting hybrids made from B. nitida which will be discussed at a later time. The variety, rosea also deserves its own sketch. In our part of the country, nitida, var. o.a., is almost ever- 'blooming, if it has warmth in winter. It is happier in more sun than shade. Its full name is so descriptive that we should learn to use it. Those who have seen it grown en mass with wonderful lacy clusters of white, sweet scented flowers against the gayest of glossy green leaves, will always hold it in high esteem. Some day we will have a christening and a sketch of its sister foundling that now has no name.