Help to identify my begonia please....

19 years ago

Hello there-

I am new to this forum (usually hang with the fig guys) but I have a beautiful begonia (pix below). It was found by a friend of mine in a bar in Santa Cruz in the 60s when she got a cutting. She gave me the main plant when she moved away about 20 yrs ago. I give out cuttings all the time but I don't know what begonia it is.

It loves the room I keep it in and grows to a monsterous size with leaves often over a foot long. When it blooms, it holds pannicles of small pink flowers high above the foliage. Although the flowers are not spectacular themselves, it makes for a dramatic display. It snakes its way across the soil and coils as you can see in the pic.

Anyway- sorry this is so long but any help with identification of my precious plant would be greatly appreciated.

Take care,

Christy

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Featured Answer

dmacdo1

13 years ago

The photos above are absolutely beautiful!! I've been trying to locate THIS begonia on & off for over 5 yrs. now! My mom had one (the same one my entire life) & called it an "Elephant Ear" begonia. (Me in the pic at age 4, 45 yrs. ago. It looks like it was growing from my Easter hat!) It was ENORMOUS!! I don't know what happened to it after she passed & regretfully, never thought to take it or even a cutting from it. I've never been able to find one quite like it, even now, knowing the "proper" name of it. Would anyone be willing to part with a few cuttings? I'll gladly pay for them & shipping!!!

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Comments (8)

christyfiglover
Original Author
19 years ago
Hello again Begonia folks!
Am I being snubbed for a reason? ;o)
Or doesn't anyone have a clue as to the name of my Begonia?
Any help on its ID would be very appreciated.... PLEASE...
By the way- thinking back on it, the flowers are mostly white with a bit of a blush center.
Thanks again and take care,
Christy
hc mcdole
19 years ago
No snub, just no name to put to it. From past posts it appears to be soem kind of ricinifolia (maybe 'Immense' which seems a popular guess). I have something similar but without the red hairs and was sold as crassicaulis which it is not.

Check out this site:

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christyfiglover
Original Author
19 years ago
Thank you so much for your input and the link.... WOW, I had no idea of the numbers of different Begonias out there!
So mine would be considered "Rhizomatous" being it snakes and roots along the ground?
Thanks for putting up with a newbie....
Christy
lancelotlink
19 years ago
Yes it is a b. Immense. I read somewhere that they are concidered a long stem begonia
greenelbows1
19 years ago
I'm not familiar with the term 'long stem'. Looks like it might be an upright rhizome, which might be considered the same thing maybe. They tend to sort of fall over after they raach a certain height. Haven't grown 'Immense' myself so I can't say for sure. Guess I could learn something if I looked it up!
hc mcdole
19 years ago
I've never heard of 'Long Stem' either. Perhaps 'Thick Stem' which is a strange term in itself? Here is a begonia I bought as crassicaulis which it isn't but the stems are rather "thick" and "long". I have never found the name for this one but it is still a keeper.

This was two years ago before a heavy frost damaged all the stems. I cut all the stems off and started several new plants with some of the less damaged ones.
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This was about 5 years ago. I had several begonias in the same bowl but this monster took over. Lesson learned - "Do not plant small and large varieties in the same pot".

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Here it was 3 years ago on a baker's rack on our hot deck. As long as I kept it watered every day, it grew like a monster.

P.S. This plant is still growing in the same soil from 6 years ago.

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fredg78756
16 years ago
AWESOME! I've been looking for the name of this begonia. A good friend gave me a cutting that didn't do well until I got to the very last leaf. I pushed it down into soil, watered it (didn't even cover it) and in a few weeks had a baby. That was a year ago. Check out my gallery to see Unknown GROWING to see how it's doing now!

Here is a link that might be useful: Fred's Begonias