Begonia bowerae
The eyelash begonia is a small, creeping rhizomatous begonia from the Pacific-slope mountains of Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico. Its small green leaves have dark marks along the edges and bristly hairs, like eyelashes. It was collected in 1948 by a stream in a shaded ravine at about 1200 m. It is one of the toughest begonias in cultivation and does well in bright shade, at moderate humidity and in a free-draining mix that dries slightly between waterings.
Where it grows wild
The type was collected in a shaded ravine beside a flowing stream in the foothills of the Sierra Madre on Cerro Atravesado, north of Niltepec, Oaxaca. It is a rhizomatous herb of shaded, moist forest spots in a region that is otherwise seasonally dry.
Type collected at about 1220 m (4000 ft). Another cited locality is Cerro de San AndrΓ©s, Oaxaca, at about 800 m. The two measured GBIF records lack elevations, and their hot grid climate suggests they are at lower elevation than the ravine habitat.
π Growing it like that
The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:
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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.