Begonia masoniana

Begonia masoniana, the Iron Cross Begonia, is named for the dark brown-black cross-shaped mark radiating from the centre of each puckered, textured leaf against a bright apple-green background, a distinctive pattern that needs no variegation. A rhizomatous begonia rather than a cane type, it grows low and spreading from a thick creeping rhizome. The plain species is widely available and inexpensive; its variegated selection adds irregular cream sectoring to the same iron-cross pattern, a considerably pricier form.

Native range

Southern China and northern Vietnam (humid tropical understory)

Classification

Genus

Begonia

Family

Begoniaceae

Type

Wild

Growth habit

Rhizomatous, low spreading rosette

Morphology

Leaf shape

Broadly ovateEgg-shaped leaves, with the wider end near the base., puckered and blistered surface

Leaf length

10-18 cm

Leaf width

8-14 cm

Petiole colour

Hairy, reddish-green

Venation

Deeply impressed, following the puckered leaf texture

Texture

Heavily blistered/rugose, coarse hairs

Variegation

N/A: solid apple-green blade with the signature dark brown iron-cross mark; the variegated form adds cream sectoring over this same patterned baseline

Growth habit

Low, spreading rhizomatous rosette