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

Begonia capensis

Cape begonia

An old name, described by Linnaeus the Younger in 1782, that Kew's checklist treats as a Brazilian begonia with Begonia diptera, B. humilis and B. tuberosa as synonyms. It was one of the first begonias grown in Britain, arriving around 1800, but almost nothing about its wild habitat has been published. Care here follows typical Brazilian forest begonias and should be treated as a rough guide.

Begonia capensis
Photo: Maja Dumat from Deutschland (Germany), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light ShadeDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

No habitat data are available. Most Brazilian begonias grow on shaded, humid forest floors, banks and wet rocks, and this profile assumes the same. The synonym B. tuberosa suggests a tuberous or swollen base, which would fit a plant that dies back in a dry season, but this is not confirmed.

Unknown: no specimens with elevations were found.

Brazil

🔒 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 CC BY 2.0 licence, unmodified.