A Plant Species Named Toad but Not a Toad

— a Casual Talk about Begonia

By the ornamental germplasm collection and the landscape display in the Xinshe Flower Sea Festival for years, the open day of Taiwan seed improvement and propagation station, COA (hereinafter called the ‘TSIPS’), there are more than 120 species of the genus Begonia have been collected by TSIPS. In addition, many kinds of the native ones are included among the collected germplasms. In order to achieve the purposes of germplasm conservation and education promotion, the germplasm nursery is established in the greenhouse of TSIPS (Fig. 1).

TSIPS indicates that the species of genus Begonia can be found all over the world and are natively distributed in the forest area of tropical and subtropical regions. By artificial cultivation and hybridization, there are up to 10,000 kinds of varieties in the genus Begonia. The numbers of native Begonia species are exceed 1,500, and there are 18 native ones, such as Begonia pinglinensis, Begonia bouffordii and Begonia fenicis, in Taiwan. The Begonia has various and bright flower colors, including white, pink tone, red, variegated and spotted. The species, such as Begonia x hiemalis and Begonia x tuberhybrida, are the kinds popular with the public. In addition to the beautiful flowers of Begonia, there are many species, such as Begonia rex-cultorum (Fig. 2), Begonia maculata and Begonia masoniana (Fig. 3), have ornamental values because of the leaves with plentiful colors and various shapes. Aside from the ornamental utilization of Begonia, the literatures indicate that the leaves of some species are edible. The leaves are often used as soup bases in the European countries and have the sour and special flavor .

TSIPS points out that the propagation methods of Begonia can be classified into directly seeding and cuttage. The former is used in the ornamental flowering ones, and the latter is majorly used in the ornamental foliage ones (Fig. 4). Most species of the genus Begonia blooms in the season from November to May each year, and it is also the season suitable for reproduction. The good aeration and drainability are the basic principles of the growing substrate used. The shallow pots are recommended for the potted Begonia. The plants can be ornamental garden flowers and should be grown in shaded area to avoid the sunburns caused by direct sunlight. The heat insulation practices should be taken to decrease the frost damage when the cold waves occur with the temperature below 10℃. Begonia is also a houseplant suited to the indoor environment with light. Therefore, they are good ornamental plants for both interior spaces and outdoor environments.

▲Fig 1. The germplasm nursery of Begonia	▲Fig 2. Begonia rex-cultorum
▲Fig 3. Begonia masoniana	▲Fig 4. The cuttage propagation of Begonia