Species
B. subvillosa
Photos
5 photos
Identity
- Genus
- Begonia
- Name
- B. subvillosa
- Author
- Klotzsch, Abh. Königl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin
- Publication Date
- 1854
- Country
- Brazil, Paraguay
- Region
- America
- Section
- Ephemera
- Chr 2n
- 32, 34?
- Plant Type
- Semperflorens
- Synonyms and Comments
- B. U008; B. U151; B. U229; B. heineri Brade, Arq. Jard. Bot. Rio de Janerio 12:11, pls. 4, 5:figs, 15–21. 1952. —L.B. Smith & R.C. Smith, Fl. Il. Catarin. 1(Bego):102. 1971.; B. serafinensis Brade, Sellowia 9:34, pl. 5:figs. 1–11. 1958.; B. serafinensis Brade var. cerqueirae Brade, Sellowia 9:36, pl. 5:figs. 12-13. 1958.; B. schmidtiana Regel, Gartenfl. 28:321, pl. 990. 1879.; B. schmidtii Haage & Schmidt, Samen-Verzeichniss 1880:181. 1880.; B. leptotricha C. de Candolle, Bull. Soc. Bot. Genève II 6:121, pl. 4. 1914.;B. subvillosa Klotzsch var. leptotricha ( C. de Candolle) L.B. Smith & D.C. Wasshausen, Phytologia 52:446. 1983;
- Reference
- Abh. Königl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1854: 152. 1855; Begoniac. :32. 1855. —L.B. Smith & R.C. Smith, Fl. Il. Catarin. 1(Bego):102, pl.31. 1971. — E.L. Jacques & M.C.H. Mamede, Revista Brasil. Bot. 28(3):584-5. 2005; JGSL9/08;
- Article References
- Tebbitt, Begonias 5:182. 2005; The Begonian (36) July 1969, p 150;
- Photo References
- The Begonian, Nov-Dec 2005; Exotica - Pictorial Encyclopedia of Indoor plants; Begonias, Misono 1974: 76 (112);
Plant
- Description
- Experiments with: B. schmidtiana traits by Jane Neal, Worthing, England. "Some species are so dominant as to be completely useless for breeding purposes." This sentence, written some years ago by an eminent breeder of Iris, started the trail of thought that led - to this experiment. It is accepted that Begonias rex, semperflorens, and boweri traits are strongly dominant, "even into the third and fourth generation." How many others are there, and how many hybrids of these have become accepted as "species?" The B. schmidtiana group emerged from a mixed bag of crosses and were outstanding: B. (schmidtiana x semperflorens cultivar) B. (schmidtiana x sutherlandii) B. (schmidtiana x 'Vesperia') [B. 'Vesperia' is a seedling of B. 'Viaudi'.] R (schmidtiana x 'Duchartrei') [B. 'Duchartrei' is R (echinosepala x scharffiana).] B. (schmidtiana x tomentosa) [These seedlings have been called B. Tom Smith grex.] B. (dregei x schmidtiana) B. (pearcei x schmidtiana) All the seedlings favor B. schmidtiana, regardless of whether it was used as the seed or pollen parent. Only a close inspection reveals differences in build, habit, and coloring. In every cross, the flowers are like R schmidtiana's, as is the leaf shape but the deep serrations of B. schmidtiana tended to give way to regular "saw" edges or sometimes to crenate edges. All the hybrids are larger, more upright and stronger than R schmidtiana. Also, the color and shape of the ovary is distinctive. The ovary of R schmidtiana is brownish-red with the large wing very rounded; not one hybrid has this shape or color. Seed of some of these crosses grown by other A.B.S. members bear out the strong dominance of B. schmidtiana. B. (dregei x schmidtiana) yielded a moderately tall plant with softly hairy green leaves, no red on the back, and sprays of flesh pink flowers- all female. B. (pearcei x schmidtiana) gave a stout, white-hairy plant with larger leaves than those of B. schmidtiana, with red-flushed backs. The pale pink flowers are of R schmidtiana type and, to date, all male. This hybrid has overwintered very badly-dropping all its leaves and keeping only a bare white hairy stem. In the other hybrids, the outstanding difference is in the shape and color of the ovary. While all the flowers remained distinctly "schmidt," B. (schmidtiana x 'Duchartrei') produced a showy rose-pink ovary with a tendency to produce four-winged examples. The ovary of R (schmidtiana x 'Vesperia) is a distinctive lilac pink. But the B. (schmidtiana x sutherlandii) seed produced a weakly group of plants with a deep carmine blotch at the base of the main petals. These plants have wintered badly, too. R Tom Smith grex, which is B. (schmidtiana x tomentosa), when mature is some fourteen inches across and about fourteen inches tall. One variety has pink flowers; the other, almost pure white with faintly pink edges. Leaves are finely toothed with plum red backs. The whole plant is white hairy and winters well, never quite going out of flower. Cuttings roots well but must come from a basal shoot that is already budding, or the cutting simply goes up into a single stem as do some semps. B. (schmidtiana x semperflorens cultivar) gave small black-green leaves under a coat of white hair, with deep red backs. A constant supply of deep pink flowers follows the B. schmidtiana type. These do well on a window sill, even over winter. Another lot that never quite goes out of flower. It would be possible to pass several of these hybrids off as the species itself to anyone who lacked the original B. schmidtiana to compare them with. Ledyard Stebbins, Jr., the geneticist, has written, "The offspring; of two distinct specifics may resemble each other as much as a group of species, and may so resemble one parent as to be indistinguishable. A "specific" is an individual, or group of individuals, in which the characteristics of any particular species are clearly defined. It should be noted here, that two of the pollen parents used were cultivars that is, hybrids of man-made origin. He has also stated that if a hybrid is a polyploid formed by crossing two closely related species, with partly homologous chromosomes, many derivatives of that hybrid "will be hardly distinguishable from one or the other of the parent species." The results obtained in this group of hybrids would seem to bear out, in every respect, these genetic facts. Great care must be exercised in both the pollination and the keeping of records of all hybrids, for appearance alone is no guarantee of the purity of a batch of seedlings. Only with the F 2 (second-generation cross) does the variation really begin, but, unfortunately, the door is all too often fast shut to this by sterility. One guide to the purity of a questionable species is its fertility. Any drop in this should be regarded with suspicion, no matter how close a resemblance there may be to the species in question. It should be remembered that Nature has one golden rule: "Be fruitful and multiply." Failure here leads to final and complete elimination-Nature has no time for those who cannot maintain themselves. But if the doorway to the F 2 generation can be opened, then the fertile generation is obtained and the breeders are in business. For the F 2, though very variable, is fully fertile. All who have grown seed of semps or rex cultivars or tuberhybridas know the truth of this statement. All the varied varieties in these groups today are the result of the breakthrough to the F 2 generation from the first and original F1 hybrid-and then the continued selection from each generation of the most desirable plants, and the recombination and further selection down the seasons.;
Lineage
4 descendants
Parents
No parentage recorded.
B. U008; B. U151; B. U229; B. heineri Brade, Arq. Jard. Bot. Rio de Janerio 12:11, pls. 4, 5:figs, 15–21. 1952. —L.B. Smith & R.C. Smith, Fl. Il. Catarin. 1(Bego):102. 1971.; B. serafinensis Brade, Sellowia 9:34, pl. 5:figs. 1–11. 1958.; B. serafinensis Brade var. cerqueirae Brade, Sellowia 9:36, pl. 5:figs. 12-13. 1958.; B. schmidtiana Regel, Gartenfl. 28:321, pl. 990. 1879.; B. schmidtii Haage & Schmidt, Samen-Verzeichniss 1880:181. 1880.; B. leptotricha C. de Candolle, Bull. Soc. Bot. Genève II 6:121, pl. 4. 1914.;B. subvillosa Klotzsch var. leptotricha ( C. de Candolle) L.B. Smith & D.C. Wasshausen, Phytologia 52:446. 1983;
Descendants
4 recorded children
As female parent
3
As male parent
1
Female parent: B. ‘Westport Beauty’
Culture
No populated fields in this section.