Species library › Begonia › Begonia albococcinea
Begonias Little published: much of this is inferred from related species

Begonia albococcinea

A stemless, rhizomatous begonia from the southern Western Ghats of India. Hooker named it for its white flowers with a scarlet reverse, and it was grown in British gardens in the 1840s to 1870s. Most wild collections come from waterfall and hill-forest localities around Courtallam, the Tirunelveli hills and Travancore, so it is a plant of wet, shaded rock and forest banks in a monsoon climate.

Begonia albococcinea
Photo: Hooker, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Humid airBand in Plantistry
Light ShadeDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Historic specimens come from Courtallam (Kuttalam) falls, Tirtakarai falls near Tenmalai in Travancore, Agastyamalai and 'Cox's Hut' in the Tinnevelly hills. These are spray-wet rock faces and moist evergreen forest in the southern Western Ghats. Specimen labels give no habitat detail, so the microhabitat is inferred from the localities.

Only one label gives an elevation, about 300 m (1,000 ft). The Agastyamalai and Tinnevelly hill localities suggest it also grows higher, perhaps up to about 1,000 m, but this is unconfirmed.

Tamil NaduKeralaKarnatakaAndhra Pradesh

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its Public domain licence, unmodified.