Species

B. veitchii

Photos

5 photos

Identity

Genus: Begonia
Name: B. veitchii
Author: J. D. Hooker, Gard. Chron.
Publication Date: 1867
Date of Origin: 1867
Place: Cuzco, Apurimac
Habitat: Cliffs and open slopes. Cuzco: Near Cuzco, 3, 700- 3,800 meters, Pearce, type. Machu Picchu, 2,300 meters, West 8025; Vargas 536; Hunnewell 16057. Lares Valley, Soukup 24.-Apurimac: Soccllaccasa Pass, Abancay-Cuzco trail, 3,800 meters, West 3818. Bolivia?
Country: Peru
Region: America
Section: Australes
Chr 2n: 28
Plant Type: Tuberous
Synonyms and Comments: rosiflora J.D. Hooker, Bot. Mag. 93:pl. 5680. 1867. " rosaeflora ."
Reference: Gard. Chron. 1:734. 1867.; Bot. Mag. 93: pl. 5663. 1867.; JGSL9/08; YBG
Article References: Curtis's botanical magazine, v. 93 = ser. 3, v. 23, (1867); Tebbitt, Begonias 5:231-35. 2005; Beg. 77:226-227. 2010
Photo References: JBS, Begonias :70. 1980; Tebbitt, Begonias pl.209. 2005; Beg. pls. 77:226-227. 2010

Plant

Description: Curtis's botanical magazine, v. 93 = ser. 3, v. 23, (1867) B. veitchii: Of all the species of Begonia known, this is, I think, the finest. With the habit of Saxifraga ciliata, immense flowers of a vivid vermilion-cinnabar red, that no colorist can reproduce, it adds the novel feature of being hardy, in certain parts of England at any rate, if not in all. It was discovered by Messrs. Veitch's collector, Mr. Pearce, near Cuzco, in Peru, at an elevation of 12,000-12,500 feet, and the plant grown in Mr. Veitch's establishments have already given proof sufficient of their hardihood, by withstanding a temperature of 25° F with absolute impunity. Unwilling as I am to pronounce on the probable or possible adaptation of exotic plants to an English climate, I cannot but believe that in the southwestern counties and in the south of Ireland, the Begonia veitchii will certainly prove one of the most ornamental of border plants. A very nearly allied species to this exists in the Hookerian Herbarium, collected by Mandon in the Andes of Bolivia, near Sorata, altitude 9,000-10,000 feet; it is, however, more caulescent, and has a glabrous scape, with larger stipule and bracts. I have mentioned this as the same species as Veitchii, in ‘The Gardeners' Chronicle,' but from live specimens since received from Major Trevor Clarke, I believe it to be distinct, having a caulescent habit, many-flowered scapes, and less brilliantly colored flowers. It will shortly be figured in this work as B. clarkii. Description: Root tuberous. Stem almost none. Leaves nearly radical, on short, stout, pilose petioles, orbicular- or broadly ovate-cordate, concave, obscurely lobed and crenate, four to six inches in diameter, thick in texture; nerves radiating from the center, very prominent below; upper surface dark green, under very pale; margins red and ciliate. Stipules membranous, triangular, ovate, red. Scape erect, stout, terete, eight to ten inches high, pilose, two-flowered, male and female. Bracts concave, membranous, oblong, obtuse, ciliate, rose red. Peduncles about one-inch long. Flowers one and three-quarters to two and a half inches in diameter, bright cinnabar-red; male flower largest; perianth segments four, broadly ovate; stamens very numerous, crowded on a slightly elevated torus; filaments filiform; anther broadly obovate, obtuse; female flower, perianth segments five, as in the male flower. Ovary green, obcuneate, unequally three, winged; style trifid, lobes bifid, with spiral stigmatic bands; placenta bifid and lobed, the lobes ovuIiferous all over - J. D. H.; Belgique Horticole, t.18 (1868) B. veitchii: Of all the known Begonias, says Dr. Hooker, this one is, I think, the most beautiful. Now, we know nearly a thousand. It has a stocky habit, a very short stem, dark round leaves, crenellated, cilia on the edges. All this recalls, almost to be mistaken, the Saxifraga ciliata. Its flowers are huge, round, regular, vermilion red so bright that the brush cannot reproduce it. This beautiful plant is in the ground. It is for our gardens an acquisition such as they have not made for a long time. It will be in the open air, if not everywhere, at least in favored gardens, in well-drained soil and perhaps under a light cover. It has been discovered near Cuzco, Peru, at an elevation above sea level of 12,000 to 12,500 feet near snow. It was again Mr. Pearce who made this beautiful discovery and it is to MM. Veitch that we owe his introduction in the gardens. This plant will spread quickly and no doubt we will take advantage of it. Rick Schoellhorn; Veitch’s' Catalog. of Pl. 1867, p. 11, fig. Fl. des Serres, 1877, p. 119. A superb species, due to Richard Pearce, who discovered it near Cuzco in Peru, at an elevation of from 10,000-12,000 ft. At the time of its introduction, this, the finest species then known, was described in the Botanical Magazine. " Of all the species of Begonia known, this is, I think, the finest. With the habit of Saxifraga ciliata, immense flowers of a vivid vermilion cinnabar-red, that no colorist can reproduce, it adds the novel feature of being hardy in certain parts of England at any rate, if not in all." It flowered with us for the first time in the open air in 1866.; Flora of Peru. by J. Francis Macbride. Chicago, Ill. Field Museum of Natural History, [1941] v.13: pt.4: no.1 (1941): Page 181- 202 http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/19800 Succulent herb, 30-75 cm. high, with tuberous base, quite variable. Stem very short. Leaves very broadly cordate-ovate to suborbicular or reniform, obtuse, 5--10 cm. long, lobulate, crenate-serrate, dark green and sparsely pubescent to glabrous above, glaucous and often densely pubescent beneath, often bullate, petioles stout, 3-12 cm. long, stipules triangular, red. Peduncles stout, 2-3 dm. long, overtopping the leaves, red or green, pubescent or glabrous, 2-4-flowered. Bracts paired, broadly elliptic, entire or crenulate. Pedicels 1-3 cm. long. Staminate tepals 4, broadly obovate or elliptic, obtuse or emarginate, 25--30 mm. long, red. Stamens very numerous, free, anthers broadly elliptic, shorter than the filaments. Pistillate tepals 5, like the staminate. Styles 3, 2-parted, stigmatic tissue linear, spiral, continuous, placentae bilamellate. Capsule obcuneate, 2 wings very narrow, the third 2- 3 times larger, subdeltoid. Hook. f. in Gard. Chron. 1867, p. 734, with woodcut; Bot. Mag. t. 5663
Plant Height: Low