40 Fun Facts About Begonias

A strikingly dark begonia described from Borneo in 2014 was named after which Star Wars villain?

Darth Vader inspired the name Begonia darthvaderiana because the plant's unusually dark look reminded its describers of the warrior. The same paper named Begonia amidalae after Padmé Amidala.

Begonia flowers come in almost every colour, but which one is missing from the range?

Blue is the one colour missing, so whites, pinks, scarlets, yellows and oranges are as far as begonia flowers go. Even the fanciest double-flowered hybrids obey the rule.

The only member of the begonia family that is not a begonia grows wild in which US state?

Hawaii is the only home of Hillebrandia sandwicensis, the lone species of its family outside the genus Begonia. It survives in wet, wooded ravines on Maui, Molokai and Kauai.

Botanists place begonias in the same plant order as which family of familiar garden vegetables?

Gourds, the family of pumpkins, cucumbers and melons, share the order Cucurbitales with begonias. The begonia family is the bigger of the two, with about twice as many species.

Which rock band released the song Scarlet Begonias on the 1974 album From the Mars Hotel?

Grateful Dead first played it live in March 1974, with words by Robert Hunter and music by Jerry Garcia. From 1977 the band often paired it on stage with Fire on the Mountain.

The biennial Flower Carpet, traditionally woven from begonias, fills the Grand-Place of which European capital?

Brussels has staged its Flower Carpet since 1971, with about 120 volunteers laying at least half a million blooms in a single day. The 2024 edition broke with tradition and used dahlias.

People in some parts of the world eat begonias; how do most of the plants taste?

Sour is the usual verdict, and the tang comes with a catch: begonias are safe to nibble in small amounts but potentially toxic in large quantities.

Which unusual feature do the leaves of most begonias share, whatever their size or pattern?

Two unequal halves give most begonia leaves a lopsided outline, with the left and right sides different sizes. The shape gave the first angel wing begonias their name.

A Malaysian begonia with iridescent leaves earned a nickname taken from which bird?

Peacock begonia is the nickname of Begonia pavonina, and the sheen is no ornament: the leaves are adapted to capture as much light as possible in the dim undergrowth of mountain forests.

The begonia Kimjongilia, named for a North Korean leader, was bred by a botanist from which country?

Japan was home to Kamo Mototeru, who presented the flower as a token of friendship for Kim Jong Il's 46th birthday. It is grown to bloom on that date each February.

Roughly how many different species of begonia have botanists named around the world so far?

About 2,000 is the usual count, which makes Begonia one of the largest genera of flowering plants. One of them, Begonia giganticaulis, can reach 3.6 metres, nearly twelve feet tall.

The begonia is named after Michel Bégon, a 17th-century official and plant collector from which country?

France sent Bégon to administer its Caribbean islands in the 1680s, and he became the patron of the botanist who later named the plants after him.

Begonias grow wild across the tropics, but on which continent is the genus thought to have originated?

Africa is considered the centre of origin: begonia ancestors are thought to have spread from there into Asia and to have reached the Americas at least twice.

The wild ancestors of modern tuberous begonias were collected in the 1860s in which mountain range?

The Andes yielded three species to plant hunter Richard Pearce, and London nurserymen crossed them into the first hybrid tuberous begonias within a few years.

Begonia masoniana's dark leaf marking earned it a common name taken from which military decoration?

Iron Cross begonia carries a bold dark brown pattern at the centre of each textured green leaf. It was first described from garden plants and only much later rediscovered in the wild.

In floriography, the traditional language of flowers, a gift of begonias carries which message?

A warning is the traditional reading, with begonias variously said to mean be careful, take heed or even that the pair are being watched.

Which group of begonias is the staple of massed summer bedding displays in parks and gardens?

Wax begonias, named for their thick, shiny leaves, are hybrids of at least five species. They are tougher than they look: brought indoors for the winter, a plant can live up to five years.

Growers say the largest tuberous begonia blooms can spread as wide as which item of tableware?

A dinner plate is the yardstick growers use for the biggest blooms, while the smallest are barely half an inch across. Some varieties are even scented.

Most begonias evolved beneath forest trees, so which light conditions suit them best in a garden?

Bright shade copies the light beneath a tree canopy, where most wild begonias live. Few will tolerate full sun, especially in warmer climates.

What do tuberous begonias do each winter that sets them apart from most other begonias?

Go dormant is the answer: the top growth dies back and the tuber rests, so gardeners can lift it and store it somewhere cool and dry until spring.

What causes the silvery polka dots on the leaves of the popular houseplant Begonia maculata?

Trapped air in the leaf's outer skin scatters light to make each spot. One theory holds that the dots mimic butterfly eggs, persuading real butterflies to lay elsewhere.

The polka dot begonia, first described from Corcovado mountain, is native to which country?

Brazil is its home: the species grows beneath the canopy of the Atlantic rainforest, and the plant that botanist Giuseppe Raddi named in 1820 came from a peak in central Rio de Janeiro.

The hardy begonia, Begonia grandis, which survives frosty winters outdoors, comes from which country?

China is home to this exception in a mostly tropical genus. Its top growth dies as temperatures fall, and the plant survives as tubers and tiny bulbils formed where the leaves join the stem.

Cane begonias take their name from thick, jointed stems that resemble which other plant?

Bamboo is the comparison: the stems are thick and upright, with swollen nodes. Some cane cultivars can grow three to five metres tall.

Which acid, also found in rhubarb leaves, makes begonias toxic if eaten in large quantities?

Oxalic acid runs through begonia tissues, so a nibble is harmless but a large helping is not. The compound takes its name from wood sorrel, Oxalis, where chemists first isolated it.

According to the ASPCA, which part of a begonia is the most toxic to cats and dogs?

Underground parts are the most toxic, the charity says, and the culprits are soluble calcium oxalates, which make begonias poisonous to horses as well.

An old legend says the autumn-flowering hardy begonia first sprang from which trace of a woman pining for her beloved?

Her tears, shed beneath a wall as she longed for someone she could not see, are said to have sprouted the plant, which was called the heartbreaking flower and became a symbol of love.

The begonia Kimjongilia is a floral emblem of North Korea, but which bloom is the country's national flower?

Magnolia holds the official title, in the form of Siebold's magnolia. The country's other famous namesake bloom, Kimilsungia, is an orchid, so neither leader's flower is the national one.

Rex begonias can be propagated in an unusual way, from a cut section of which plant part?

A leaf is enough, and for this group even a section of one will root and grow into a new plant. Most other begonias are multiplied by division or stem cuttings.

Astronomer Karl Reinmuth, who named many discoveries after plants, gave the name Begonia to what?

An asteroid about 70 kilometres wide, 943 Begonia orbits in the outer part of the main belt. Reinmuth found it from Heidelberg in 1920 and later named a run of 28 such bodies after plants.

HMS Begonia, a Royal Navy convoy escort of the Second World War, was which type of small warship?

Corvette is right: she belonged to the Flower class, whose Royal Navy ships were all named after flowers. From 1942 to 1945 she sailed on loan with the US Navy as USS Impulse.

Begonia cucullata, a South American bedding plant, now grows wild as an invader in which US state?

Florida now has it growing invasively from the northern and central peninsula west to the panhandle. It is a prolific seed producer, which is thought to be how it spreads.

Which monk and botanist coined the name Begonia after collecting plants in the Caribbean in the late 1600s?

Charles Plumier, a friar of the Minim order, made three voyages to the Antilles and named the plants to thank the official who had recommended him to the royal court as a plant collector.

Which port town on the Charente river houses a begonia conservatory billed as the world's largest?

Rochefort is where Michel Bégon ran the naval port for more than twenty years, and its conservatory, opened in 1988, holds over 500 begonia species.

Which city in Victoria, Australia, has held an annual Begonia Festival since 1953?

Ballarat chose the flower to show off its begonia gardens, and the second festival drew a visit from Queen Elizabeth II. Some 100,000 plants lined the main streets for the first.

Rex begonias descend from a silver-banded species first brought to England from which region of India?

Assam supplied the original Begonia rex in the 1850s, and the plant crossed so freely that it now sits in the parentage of more than 500 named cultivars.

The houseplant sold as strawberry begonia is not a begonia at all but a member of which plant group?

Saxifrages claim it: the plant is Saxifraga stolonifera, also sold as strawberry geranium, though it is no geranium either. It spreads by thread-like red runners, as strawberries do.

Winter-flowering Rieger begonias descend from a wild parent found only on which Indian Ocean island?

Socotra, a Yemeni island, is the only home of the wild parent, whose winter-blooming habit breeders began crossing into tuberous hybrids in the 1880s.

Every yellow tuberous begonia descends from one wild species, found by a Victorian plant hunter in which country?

Bolivia's high plateau gave plant hunter Richard Pearce the small-flowered Begonia pearcei, the one yellow species among the wild parents of the garden hybrids.

Each begonia plant carries two separate kinds of flower, best described as which pair?

Male and female flowers open separately on the same plant. The female ones sit above a large ovary that ripens into a winged capsule packed with minute seeds.