Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Tropical rainforest
Range: Southeast Asia
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Rare

About

King begonia is prized for its large, asymmetric leaves marked with metallic silver zones radiating from a dark olive center and vivid purple-red undersides. Native to rocky hillsides in Assam, India, it is the wild ancestor of thousands of rex-cultorum hybrid varieties grown as houseplants worldwide.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Cucurbitales
Family: Begoniaceae
Genus: Begonia
Species: Begonia rex