Flora of New Zealand Series

bedding begonia

Fibrous-rooted, bushy herbs to c. 30 cm high; stems succulent and much-branched. Lvs with large scarious stipules; petiole reddish, to c. 3 cm long; lamina to c. 8 × 6 cm (larger in cultivation), broadly ovate, usually partly folded lengthways, semi-succulent, glossy above, glabrous except for the sparsely ciliate, reddish, undulate margin; base almost symmetric to somewhat oblique. Fls in small axillary clusters toward stem apices. ♂ fls: sepals 2, 1.5- c. 2.5 cm diam., almost orbicular, white, pink or rose; petals 2, c. 1.0 × 0.5 cm, narrowly elliptic-obovate, coloured similiarly. ♀ fls smaller; sepals 3; petals 2. Ovary with 3, broad, pink to red wings. Stigmas spirally twisted.

N.: warmer coastal areas in N. Auckland and Auckland.

Cultivated hybrid 1982

Roadside banks or steep slopes in and near settlements, either in open sites or in partial shade, an occasional escape from cultivation.

FL Jan-Dec.

Bedding begonia was for a long time known as B. semperflorens Link et Otto, a name now placed in synonomy under B. cucullata Willd. var. hookeri (A. DC.) Lyman B. Smith et Schube. This S. American plant may have gone from cultivation, but its use in hybridisation with other spp. has given rise to the complex described as B. Semperflorens-Cultorum Hybrids. The nomenclature here follows Hortus Third (1976).