B. longifolia

Culture

Cultural Requirements

Cool growing conditions, moist environment

Original Botanical Description or Link to

D. Girmansyah, Bali and Lombok species of Begonia (begoniaceae): 2008 “Stem erect, cane-like, glossy, woody, unbranched, nodes swollen, stout, up to150 cm tall, 2 cm thick at base; without a tuber. Stipules pale green, glabrous, narrowly triangular, 10–17 x 2–3 mm, margin entire, tip 2–3 mm long, setose, caducous. Leaves distant, 3-14 cm apart; petiole pale green, 2–15 cm long,grooved above; lamina oblique, green with short hairs on the upper surface, thinly leathery in life, papery when dried, oblong-lanceolate, asymmetric, 9–23 x 4–12 cm, broad side 2.5–7 cm wide, basal lobe rounded 1.5-6 cm long, margin minutely toothed, apex elongate; venation pinnate, 5-6 pairs of veins along the midrib and another 2–3 veins in basal lobe, branching towards the margin, impressed above, beneath prominent. Inflorescences axillary, few flowered, once branched per axil, shorter than the leaves, 9–13 mm long, in fruit elongating to 14–17 mm, peduncle green, glabrous, 5–10 mm long, male flowers 3, female flowers 4, protandrous. Bract pair pale or whitish green, narrowly triangular, 6–12 x 2–4 mm, margin entire, tip narrowing and setose, persistent. Male flowers with a pale green pedicel 6–25 mm long; tepals 4, white, glabrous, rotund, margin entire, tip rounded, outer two c. 11 x 11 mm, inner two similar but smaller 9-11 x 7-10 mm; stamens many, stamen cluster globose, c. 5 mm across, pedicel 1.5 mm long; filament c. 1 mm long; anthers pale yellow, narrowly obovate, c. 2 mm long, apex emarginate, opening by slits. Female flowers with a pale green pedicel 5–7 mm long; ovary white becoming green, thick and fleshy, 3-angled on top shaped, 10–13 x 8–11 mm, locules 3, placentas 2 per locule; tepals (4-6), white, broadly oval, margin not toothed, tip rounded, 11–12 x 8–9 mm; styles 3, style and stigma greenish yellow, 4–5 mm long, stigma spiral. Fruit pendent on stiff fleshy pedicel, 7–10 mm long , berry green with ripe, fleshy, 14–20 x 12–17 mm, globose,elongated into a fleshy beak, c. 4–6 mm long, glabrous, 3-lobed, without wings, locules 2–3, not splitting, stigma persisted. Seed barrel-shaped, 0.25-0.3 mm long, collar cell almost as long as or ¾ the seed length.”