Begonia caroliniifolia Regel

sect. Gireoudia
Common Name:
Family: Begoniaceae C.A. Agardh

Country of Origin: Mexico (Veracruz, Chiapas) to Honduras
Habitat: moist forest on steep,rocky slopes

Description: Begonia caroliniifolia is an upright rhizomatous with a striking woody trunk with palmately compound leaves that look like palm fronds. This plant does not branch freely and becomes quite large when well-grown, up to 60-100cm (24-39 inch) high. The stem is exceptionally tick, bearing the scars of the felled off leaves. This swollen trunk-like stems sprout decorative frilly-edged palmate foliage each leaflet with its own petiole, dense heads of small pink flowers. The digitate leaves are arranged alternate and the leaflets are lanceolate with undulate margins. The leaves are hairless above, with long rusty hairs beneath glossy green, 30-40cm (12-16 inch) in diameter and have long reddish stalks 1-2.7cm (0.8-1 inch) merging into leaf-blades and densely hairy. The stipules are large, ovate-acuminate with outer surface hairy. The light-pink flowers with yellow hearts are an added boon to this already beautiful plant. Dichotomous cymes are bearing pink flowers. Elliptic, obtuse bracts with outer surface hairy are subtending only the male flowers. The male flowers are 6.7-9mm across with two rounded-obovate calyx and corolla of a flower (generally used when the two are similar).">perianth segments and filaments that are slightly fused at base. Female flowers are smaller and have two perianth segments and three persistent styles. The flowers are produced in late winter and spring. The flowers regularly for at least three months and sometimes longer and are followed by loculicidal three celled capsules about 9mm diameter and unequally three winged.⁴

USDA Zone: 11

Accession Data:

Accession # 201100284
Source: Matt Opel
Accession Date: 10-20-2011
Bench: 1314 - NEOA: East Bench SC
- Currently: active - healthy
- Qty: 2 confirmed on 02-12-2025

Classification:

Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
SubClass: eurosid I
Order: Cucurbitales
SubOrder:
Family: Begoniaceae
SubFamily:
Tribe:
SubTribe:

Flowering Data:

This accession has been observed in bloom on:

Year	Jan				Feb				Mar					Apr				May				Jun					Jul				Aug				Sep					Oct				Nov				Dec
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017

References (internal):

EEB Greenhouse Holdings native to: Mexico Gulf / Mexico Southeast / Guatemala / Honduras

References (external):

The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Last accessed on Monday, January 04, 2016.
WCSP (2015). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Last accessed on Monday, January 04, 2016.
www.botanicalillustrations.org, accessed 2 December 2013
Begonia caroliniifolia at Plants Rescue. Last accessed on Monday, January 04, 2016.

data regenerated on Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:54:11 -0500 [bcm v4.0]

Plant Biodiversity Conservatory and Research Core

Accession Data:

Begonia caroliniifolia Regel

sect. Gireoudia

Accession Data:

Classification:

Flowering Data:

References (internal):

References (external):

Images:

Additional images for this accession:

Current Accessions in the Begoniaceae