Begonia luxurians
A tall shrub-like begonia from the montane Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil. Its bright red stems reach 2–3 m, and it bears palmately compound (digitate) leaves and sprays of small white flowers with yellow stamens. Kew now treats the name as a synonym of Begonia verticillata. It grows mainly at 600–2000 m in cloud and montane forest, so it likes mild days, cool nights, bright shade and a cooler, drier winter.
Where it grows wild
Herbarium labels describe dense montane and upper-montane rainforest (Floresta Ombrófila Densa Montana, and cloud forest at Três Picos) and montane seasonal forest at Itacolomi. It grows in the forest interior, beside streams in deep ravines, on waterlogged ground in lowland forest at Forno Grande, and on banks and road edges, sometimes in sunny stretches. Plants are robust erect herbs or shrubs 1–3 m tall.
Recorded from near sea level to 1965 m, median about 1100 m (43 records). The core is 600–1800 m in the Serra dos Órgãos, Três Picos, Itatiaia, Caparaó, Itacolomi and Bananal.
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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.