Begonia burkillii

Stephen Troyte Dunn published Begonia burkillii in 1920, naming it after British botanist Isaac Henry Burkill. The plant is native to Arunachal Pradesh in the Eastern Himalaya of Northeast India, where it grows as a lithophyte along shaded river valleys. It exhibits elliptical peltate leaves with a mint-green base marked by chocolate-brown blotches and an iridescent blue sheen in dim light. Unlike lowland tropical species, this montane begonia requires cool temperatures and declines when exposed to heat above 25 C.

Native range

Arunachal Pradesh, Eastern Himalaya, India (shaded river valleys, collected during the 1911-1912 Abor Expedition)

Classification

Genus

Begonia

Family

Araceae

Type

Wild

Growth habit

Rhizomatous geophytic herb

Morphology

Leaf shape

Peltate, obliquely elliptic to ovateEgg-shaped leaves, with the wider end near the base. with an acute apex

Leaf length

12-20 cm

Leaf width

7-12 cm

Petiole colour

Reddish-brown, peltately attached 1-2 cm inside the margin

Venation

Palmate primary veins radiating from the peltate insertion

Texture

Smooth and satin-like with optical iridescence

Variegation

Chocolate-brown interveinal blotches on a mintVariegation featuring a speckled, marbled, or light pastel-green pattern.-green background

Growth habit

Creeping rhizome spreading across the substrate surface