B. ‘Ricinifolia’

Culture

Original Botanical Description or Link to

Allgemeine Gartenzeitung. Berlin. v. 15 (1847): Page 279-81 http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/52471 Description of two new begonias of one species and one hybrid. Written by Albert Dietrich Of the many begonias which are wild in South and Central America, there are always several introduced into our garden, which are, as a matter of fact, an ornament of the growers. The number of the newly introduced observations has been increased since the introduction of these species, which is given to us in the garden, and only a few of the purer ones, as the Begonia crassicaulis, coccinea, albo-coccinea, fuchsioides, zebrina, which now decorate our warm houses. We find several catalogs of the English and Belgians, as well as in the catalog of Linden at Nuremburg, in which the Hamburger and Erfurt gardens, and finally the museum from the plant catalog of Muhlbech and Abel Vienna, where eight American species are listed without names. From this it is assumed that now 70-80 different species are cultivated in the European garden, although some of them are submerged in double naming, likely a considerable number in comparison with those described in botanical drawing. Among the types of Begonias, which are found in the garden, there is also one which Senator Merk has only lately been able to cultivate from Brazil, and which is cultivated in its rich plant collection near Hamburg, also in the botanical garden of Hamburg and with the master gardener there in Berlin, Mr. Allardt. The flowering Begonia from the Hamburg botanical garden shows that it is a new species and a very recommendable ornamental plant. It belongs to the division of A. perennes, Begonia rhizomate repente, which is given at the place mentioned, and is similar in the habitus of the begonia heracleifolia, albo-coccinea, macrophylla, and the other species which form a fine trunk. We call it: Begonia ricinifolia. Begonia ricinifolia. B. acaulis, rhizomate repente, foliis radicalibus palma­tifidis, supra hirtis splendentibus, subtus purpureis nervis prominulis hlrsutis, lobis latis acuminatis sinuato - dentatis, petiolis scapisque hirsutis rubro­punctatis, cymis dichotomis, capsulae alis duabus angustioribus, tertia maxima membranacea alba. Habitat in Brasilia. From the hitherto dormant rootstock, which partly emerges from the earth, several leaves and petioles are developed. The petioles are very long; about a foot long, round, taut, of the thickness of a finger, erect, haired, very dense with small round and larger irregular red spots. The leaf blade is almost circular in circumference, 9-10 inches in diameter, is scarcely split up to the fourth part of its surface in 5, 7, or 9 lobes, the base being deep-heart-shaped and slightly unequal, on the surface dark-green already glossy and fleshy, with short-hairs on the lower surface, with strongly prominent, hand-shaped nerves, and particularly on the nerves, but also between the panes, with long hair; broad, spiked or deeply toothed, with larger or smaller pointed teeth, all round the edge with hair, and the red coloring of the surface still smoothing at the edge. The stem is two-foot long, upright stalked, of the thickness of a narrow stake, very lightly streaked, long, very fine reddish, with points which are sometimes round, sometimes long, drawn out into line-shaped strips. At the spike of the shank, the flowers stand in a delicate two-bifurcated, rather prolix, trumpet. The general as well as the particular flower-stalks are found, as the stem is hairy and colored, but the hair is short, and the color gradually changes to the red. At each division, there is a coarse covering, extending into a fine, almost turned spike, which is interspersed with numerous veins, is first fleshy, then becomes skinny and dry, and entirely falls off. The flowers in each blood of separated sex, but the male species are present in a great variety, and only a few are present in the fetus. The male flowers have a very fine, reddish color, and give the plant a delicate and lovely touch, in which the blood-hay leaves are still traced with very fine, but slightly darker veins, which produces a peculiar shading. The blood-hulled bilepsy, with roundish, inverted, rounded, and rounded, round leaves, on the base in a short nail. The dust-packs are very short, the scarcely perceptible dust-filaments at the base with each other; the dust bag line shaped, slightly curved and of lively gold yellow color. The female flowers are, unfortunately, all faded, but there are already developed fruits on our plants, on which the dried flowering buds are also to be seen. it is likewise two-lobed, with somewhat smaller and narrower leaflets than in the male, but probably of the same color; the handle quite long, at the spike divided into three fairly convoluted incisions, which bear the thick copiform scars. The fruit is triple-leafed, with several wings, two of which are smaller and more regularly rounded, the third, however, much larger, tongued, but round, rounded, rounded, spike-like, and osseous.