Species
B. nitida
See B. minor
Photos
5 photos
Identity
- Genus
- Begonia
- Name
- B. nitida
- Author
- Dryander in Aiton, Hort. Kew
- Publication Date
- 1789
- Date of Origin
- 1777
- Country
- Jamaica? Ivory Coast
- Region
- America
- Section
- Begonia
- Plant Type
- Shrub-like
- Synonyms and Comments
- B. minor Jacquin. 1787; B. obliqua L.,1753; B. retusa Schulz O.E.,1911;
- Reference
- Hort. Kew 3:352. 1879.— W.J. Hooker, Bot. Mag. 69:pl.4046. 1843. —O.E. Schulz in Urban, Symb. Antil. 7:10. 1911; JGSL9/08;
- Article References
- The Garden, v. 36 1889;
- Photo References
- The Begonian, Jul 1945; The Begonian, Aug 1949; Exotica - Pictorial Encyclopedia of Indoor plants;
Plant
- Description
- A complete dictionary of practical gardening: London: Printed for George Kearsley by R. Taylor,1807. Page 164-5. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/55984 In this species, the stems are almost upright, branched, round, smooth, as is the whole plant, with alternate, cylindric branches: the leaves are acute or acuminate, almost entire or obscurely toothed, seven nerved; one lobe of the base is double the size of the other; the younger ones are rosy colored about the edge, they are all very smooth and shining, of a bright green color, paler beneath, permanent, spreading, 4-5” long, and 2-3” wide. The petioles are cylindric, thick, spreading, one third only of the length of the leaf. The stipules are sessile, oblong, one-nerved, and as it were three-winged. From a rib winged underneath produced into a point, on the sides membranaceous and revolute. They are spreading and deciduous, and the length of the petiole; the racemes are compound, cymose, androgynous. The males very numerous, the females few at top, solitary, axillary, on long peduncles. Dichotomous three inches wide: the peduncles upright, cylindric, longer than the leaf, the thickness of the petiole: the bracts opposite, below the dichotomies and the pedicels, half embracing, ovate or roundish, membranaceous, caducous: the corolla is flesh - or rose-colored, sometimes of a dark red; in the female flowers six-petalled. It is an elegant shrub flowering from May to December, and is a native of Jamaica. There are varieties with rose-colored flowers; and with white flowers.; The Garden, v. 36 1889 WINTER-FLOWERING BEGONIAS. In common with the tuberous-rooted section of Begonias that flower during the summer months, those that bloom throughout the autumn and winter have within the last few years become far more popular than hitherto, and some of our most prominent hybridists have devoted their attention to the production of new varieties. Among the older winter-flowering Begonias may be mentioned several of the original species and hybrids raised therefrom, most of which are of a shrubby character, while recently the curious peltate leaved B. socotrana and some of the tuberous-rooted class have been successfully employed in the production of the newer hybrids. Of varieties not springing from either of these two just mentioned and of original species valuable for their winter blooming qualities may be especially mentioned. B. minor as SYN B. nitida - This species, with its deep shiny green leaves and clusters of white or pink sweet-scented blossoms, is too well known to need any detailed description, and the same remark applies to B. odorata with flowers somewhat in the way of, but smaller than those of B. nitida. They are also more highly fragrant. This species is also known under the name of B. suaveolens.
Lineage
Parents
No parentage recorded.
B. minor Jacquin. 1787; B. obliqua L.,1753; B. retusa Schulz O.E.,1911;
Descendants
No recorded descendants.
Culture
- Cultural Requirements
- Culture. - These plants may be raised either by seeds, layers, or cuttings. The seeds should be sown in pots of light earth, in the early spring season, and brought forward by being plunged in a moderate bark hot-bed. When the plants have attained sufficient strength, they may be removed into separate pots, and placed in the stove.