I saw that too. Looks a lot like 'Thurstonii'. Maybe the person selling it got it from Ruth Grant and called it that.

That's what I was wondering-- if it's really something that has another name here. There is a newspaper thing online where lady wrote in to find out about begonia sources for a few including a "Ruth Grant" in the early/mid 1990s. Maybe it was also some kind of informal name? I saw several "Ruth (insert last name here)" and "(insert first name here) Grants" in the registered name listings. I don't know. I really like the leaves and the form of it. I was outbid though lol.

Gosh, I think you're right about the B. Thurstonii. That does look like it. Also going for it is that she told me her mother had it and that it was older than she was-- and that she was 57. So it's something at least that old. Very interesting. She hadn't seen it bloom yet, so couldn't tell me bloom color. That shiny olive with the fuzz is just entrancing to me. Probably sounds silly to say.

My grandmother used to call plants that she either snipped or received from a person by that person's name because neither she nor the donor had a clue on what it was. So an Abelia might be called the Annie Bell bush. I wonder if that is what happened with this begonia.

I still have a Thurstonii but it is a shadow of what it once was. I've never had mine bloom but who knows, maybe one day it will reward me for putting up with it for too long.

Is it particularly tough? I have good luck with the canes, and so far I'm not sure about the rhizomatous ones because I've not had to overwinter them. They've done fine outside from rooting to growing a bit.

I really hope I keep things alive :) Stuff rarely fails outright for me, but sometimes I discover I have all the wrong conditions for humidity or something similar. I usually give things away before they completely die to someone who does have the right conditions :)

I wish this grad school gig paid more lol. I would have a special begonia/plant fund set aside for these things!

Hcmcdole-- I managed to get one. Now if I get a chance to run across B. thurstonii, I'll know if they are the same. The leaves are really, really shiny and smooth.

That sounds like a plan on comparison. I know that is one of the criticisms about names - they are sometimes wrong and a lot of times misspelled to boot.

Searching for pictures will often have more than two totally different plants with the same name. I know I have put some pictures out there based on what I thought I was buying and later discovered I bought a misnamed plant.

Well, at the very least, when it grows some, I'll put up pics. :)