Begonia bipinnatifida

Nothing about Begonia bipinnatifida looks like a typical begonia leaf. Described by J.J.Smith from the humid montane and lowland forests of New Guinea, its foliage is deeply bipinnatifid — divided, then divided again into narrow, toothed lobes — producing an almost fern-like, feathery silhouette carried on red petioles from a creeping rhizome, with reddish undersides accentuating each lobe. It grows in warm, shaded, consistently moist conditions on organic substrate, and appeals specifically to collectors whose interest in the genus runs toward genuine botanical oddity rather than the familiar cane and rex forms.

Native range

New Guinea (humid montane and lowland tropical forest)

Classification

Genus

Begonia

Family

Begoniaceae

Type

Wild

Growth habit

Rhizomatous, creeping

Morphology

Leaf shape

Deeply bipinnatifid (divided into narrow, toothed lobes), fern-like

Leaf length

10-20 cm

Leaf width

8-18 cm

Petiole colour

Red

Venation

Complex, following each lobe and sub-lobe

Texture

Thin, airy, reddish undersides

Variegation

None

Growth habit

Creeping rhizome producing upright, highly divided foliage