Wax begonia
Begonia semperflorens
Kew's current name: Begonia cucullata var. cucullata
- light
- Part–shade
- water
- Medium
- tall
- 23 cm
- wide
- 23 cm
Begoniaceae
Also called Perpetual begonia, Bedding begonia, Clubbed begonia
Formerly Begonia cucullifolia, Begonia dispar, Begonia obovatistipula, Begonia paludicola, and 2 more
When it flowers
Flowers July to May in the tropics.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- Subshrub or shrubKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- Wet tropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- Bolivia to Brazil and N. ArgentinaKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Part shade to shade (under 6 h)Read from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension full, part, shade; RHS part, shade
- Height
- 15 cm to 30 cmRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension 6–12 in; RHS 0.1–0.5 m
- Spread
- 15 cm to 30 cmRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension 6–12 in; RHS 0.1–0.5 m
- Water
- Average: moist, well drainedRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources
- Flowers
- White, red, pinkRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources
- Coldest it survives
- -0.8 °C (USDA zone 10a)Read from RHS and NC State Extension, checked: the middle of what its sources sayHalfway between its 2 sources, which differ. Sources differ: RHS 5 °C; NC State Extension -6.7 °C
Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (12)
- Spanish
- Begonia de cera, Pichón, Flor de cera
- Chinese
- 蜆肉海棠, 四季秋海棠
- Portuguese
- Azedinha-do-Brejo
- Russian
- Бегония клобучковая
- Japanese
- シキザキベゴニア, シキザキシュウカイドウ, シロバナベゴニア
- Chinese (China)
- 四季秋海棠
- French
- Bégonia
- Croatian
- Trajnocvjetna begonija
- Lithuanian
- Vaškuotoji begonija
- Danish
- koralbegonie
- Thai
- บีโกเนียคูคูลลาต้า
- Polish
- ukośnica kapturowa
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- RHS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-24, CC BY 2.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- 3D model: Begonia semperflorens (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.