ENSIS.

We do not recollect any other genus of plants which is of equal interest to that to which the beautiful kinds we now figure belongs. The blossoms of all its species and varieties are produced in a most graceful manner, and the diversity, too, which exists in their individual construction, is remarkably entertaining. They also continue in flower for a long period, and many of them bloom throughout the winter and early spring season, when flowers are additionally valuable. It is an additional recommendation, too, that the plants are readily grown, and easily increased.

Most public as well as private collections of stove or greenhouse plants contain one or more kinds of Begonias, but a general collection of them is rarely to be seen. The most extensive perhaps of any is in the Royal Gardens of Kew, where there are upwards of sixty species and varieties. We have frequently seen and admired them when in bloom, taken notes thereof, and the particulars have been inserted in previous Numbers of this Magazine.

Within the last few years several handsome and very distinct kinds have been introduced from other countries, or hybrids have been raised in our own; we refer more particularly to B. cinnabarina, having citroncoloured blossoms; B. hernandifolia, rosy-red blossoms; B. fuchsioides, scarlet flowers, and the white-blossomed variety. The stripedflowered B. rubro-venia, white streaked with red. B. Thwaitesii, with most beautiful foliage of green, deep red, purple, and violet colours. The one with yellow flowers, which we figure herein, viz., BEGONIA XANTHINA, is a valuable acquisition, particularly as to the colour of its blossoms. It was obtained from the Island of Boutan, in the East Indies, by Mr. Nuttall, of Rainhill, near Preston, in Lincolnshire, in whose garden it bloomed last summer.

M

However pretty and interesting the above and other species and varieties are, the "Begonia Prestoniensis," now figured, very far excels them all. Its large brilliant-coloured fragrant flowers, produced in profusion, render it one of the most handsome, elegant, and ornamental plants of its size we have ever seen, and certainly ought to be grown wherever practicable.

It was raised in the garden of E. L. Betts, Esq., of Preston Hall, near Aylesford, in Kent; and Mr. Frost, the gardener states, that "it was obtained by impregnating B. cinnabarina with B. nitida, which latter has imparted to it its very free flowering and shrubby habit." Messrs. Lucombe, Pince, and Co., obtained the stock of plants, and from them we received our specimen.

Having grown it for some time, those gentlemen state it succeeds well in the greenhouse, too, and the blossoms have the fragrance of a Tea-Rose. Some of the Begonias flourish when grown in the dwellingroom window, and the species B. nitida, from which the seed was obtained of B. Prestoniensis, is one that is often seen in the window ;. we think therefore that this new and brilliant variety will also flourish when placed there.

Having obtained such rich coloured Begonias, having flowers of a bright yellow, brilliant orange-scarlet, rosy-red, &c., by attention to impregnation with more of the light-flowered kinds, other beautiful, improved varieties, will be raised, amply repaying for any labour bestowed.

In the "Journal of the Horticultural Society," Part II., there is an excellent article on the culture of Begonias, &c., by Mr. Donald, formerly a foreman in the Gardens; he observes

"In regard to their cultivation, I may mention that Begonias are all stove-plants, and that they enjoy a moist atmosphere of about 80 degrees in summer, with sufficient shade to break the rays of the mid-day sun. In winter, the atmosphere should be kept dry, especially in cloudy weather, and the temperature allowed to fall as low as 58 degrees. Although B. Evansiana and others will stand in a greenhouse, still even these species are much benefited by heat and moisture during the early part of the season. As to the soil most congenial to their nature, there appear to be various opinions. From experience, I am satisfied that sandy loam and leaf-mould are the two principal materials; and for the kinds that grow luxuriantly these should be used in equal proportions, with bits of pots or charcoal among the soil. For some species, such as B. coccinea, which are liable to damp off, the quantity of vegetable matter may be less, and the deficiency made up with silver sand. Damping, however, cannot altogether be attributed to soil, but must be ascribed to bad drainage, or to moisture when the plant does not require it.

"In preparing the pots, some prefer small potsherds for drainage : this, in my opinion, is almost as bad as using sifted soil; for if the crevices are small, they will be the more easily filled up. For an 8-inch pot, which may be taken as an average size for growing a specimen plant, the potsherds should not be less than three inches across; and if laid to the depth of two or three inches, and properly

covered with pieces of turf, there will be no danger of the roots suffering from damp, if water is judiciously given.

"Begonias being in general plants of free growth, and delighting in fresh soil, it is necessary to repot them twice in the course of a year, viz., February and August; but this rule, like many more in gardening, is not without an exception: one plant may grow faster than another under the same circumstances, and therefore ought to be repotted when it requires it, nothing being worse for any plant than to cramp its .

roots.

"As Begonias are generally intermixed with other plants, and receive a similar supply of water, both in summer and winter, they may well present a sickly appearance. There are few plants that require a more liberal supply during summer than they do; indeed some of the robust growing sorts will flourish with their pots half immersed in water; but, like other plants, they require a season of rest, at which time comparatively little moisture is required. This period is clearly pointed out by nature. In October all the species with which I am acquainted begin to show that water should then be gradually withheld; if it is continued, some begin to drop their leaves, others to decay at the root, or assume a languid appearance: therefore it is obvious that they should be kept dry from the 1st of November to the 1st of February. During that time, if water is given once or twice a week it will be sufficient, and the herbaceous sorts may be kept quite dry. Although many species remain green and healthy in winter, the growth they make is but trifling, nor should they be induced to grow, for if they are deprived of the season which Nature has provided for their rest, the best of management will not compensate for it in twelve months afterwards.

"There are some who imagine that a bushy plant cannot be produced, unless it has been cut down in winter, or pinched back during the growing season; but this is a mistake. If B. undulata, or any of the fibrous-rooted sorts, which require pruning, are cut down in winter, the root will in all probability die, and if pinched back, when are they to flower? To such as B. Evansiana the knife is never required, because the stems die down annnually; and it is never necessary to cut such as B. heracleifolia therefore this matter rests with the tall-growing sorts. To explain this it will be necessary to consider what functions such stems perform. Take B. undulata for an example: every stem of one year's growth, notwithstanding its flowering, is a magazine in which secretions are stored for the support, during a certain time, of those which may arise from its base the following season, and thus the stems become analogous to the pseudo-bulbs in Orchids; were not this the case, suckers would rise as strong without the stem as with it, and they would not be liable to damp off, although it should receive an injury. From this it is evident that all the pruning that is necessary is to cut out all the stems above two years old, and this should be done in spring, when the plant is repotted, in order to give room for the young shoots.

"As to propagation, perhaps few plants are so easily increased as Begonias. All those from which cuttings can be taken will strike freely