James Veitch & Sons In February 1859, Pearce was sent by Veitch to South America for three years as a "collector of plants, seeds, land-shells and other objects of Natural History". During 1860 Pearce made many journeys to the mountains and the interior of
Chile. He wrote of the scenery of that part of the
Chilean Cordilleras which he explored: "It is of the most charming description: gently undulating meadows covered with a carpet of short grass, placid lakes reflecting from their smooth surface the mountains around, foaming cataracts and gentle rivulets, deep gorges and frightful precipices, over which tumble numerous dark, picturesque waterfalls reaching the bottom in a cloud of spray. High rocky pinnacles and lofty peaks, surround one on every side. "Nor is the vegetation less beautiful and interesting. At an elevation of 4,000 ft. the vegetation exhibits a totally different character from that of the coast. Here one finds Antarctic Beeches (
Fagus antarctica and
F. betuloides), which constitute with
Fitzroya patagonica the large forest trees. The
Embothrium coccineum,
Desfontainia spinosa,
Philesia buxifolia, three species of
Berberis,
Pernettya and
Gaultheria are the most abundant of the flowering shrubs, whilst the numerous pretty little rock-plants meet one at every step with their various forms and colours." In January 1863, James Veitch again sent him to South America on another three-year expedition "to collect plants, seeds and other objects of Natural History".
Begonias Whilst exploring in the
Andes, Pearce discovered three varieties of
tuberous begonia, which were introduced to Britain, and became the fore-runners of the many varieties now available: :
Begonia pearcei, discovered in Bolivia in 1864, is also important in the hybridising of the
Begonia × tuberhybrida begonias, the first of which appeared in 1867. :
Begonia veitchii was introduced to Europe in 1866 after Pearce discovered it in the Peruvian Andes near
Cusco at an elevation of from 10,000–12,000 feet.
Begonia veitchii played an important role in the development of today's popular
hybrid cultivars and, together with Pearce's other introductions,
B. boliviensis and
B. pearcei, was subsequently hybridized to produce the
Begonia × tuberhybrida cultivar group. Pearce also brought back from Peru a species he named
Begonia rosiflora, but this has subsequently been considered to be the same as
B. veitchii, since the two forms differ only slightly, mainly in flower colour. ==Later career and death==