Begonia grandis
The hardy begonia is a tuberous, winter-dormant begonia from the shaded ravines and moist forest margins of central and southern China. It has arching stems, lopsided green leaves that are red beneath, and pink or white flowers from late summer into autumn. It also makes bulbils in its leaf axils. Unlike almost every other begonia it needs a cold winter rest, and grows best in a shady garden bed or a cool pot rather than a warm terrarium.
Where it grows wild
Herbarium labels describe moist, shaded places in mixed deciduous and broadleaf forest: ravines, riverbanks, damp leaf-litter slopes and wet, nearly vertical shaded cliffs in dark, humus-rich soil. It also turns up along shaded roadsides. The top growth dies back in autumn and the plant overwinters as tubers and fallen bulbils.
Chinese herbarium records mostly sit between about 400 and 1,150 m, with some from higher mountains in the southwest. One label shows a clearly mistyped elevation (over 20,000 m), which should be ignored.
🔒 Growing it like that
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More Begonia
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-SA 3.0 licence, unmodified.