Accession Data:
Begonia pavonina Ridl.
sect. Platycentrum
- Common Name: Peacock Begonia
- Family: Begoniaceae C.A. Agardh
- Country of Origin: peninsular Malaysia
- Description: This rhizomatous Begonia from the dim understory in the montane forests of Malaysia produce strikingly iridescent leaves under ideal growing conditions. Due to a uniquely ordered arrangement of tower-like thylakoids in the chloroplast, light is slowed down in a quantum physics effect known as "slow light". Combined with an increased uptake of red-green light this increases the efficiency of photosynthesis by up to 10%.
- Culture: Prefers cooler temperatures of mid 50's to low 70's. Blue iridescence develops best in deep shade. Prefers slightly alkaline soils, high humidity, and constantly damp roots.
- USDA Zone: 10a-11
Accession Data:
- Accession # 201300058
- Source: Rob Nicholson - Smith College
- Provenance: Smith# 21-10
- Accession Date: 10-23-2013
- Bench: 1313 - NEOA: East Bench NC
- Currently: active - marginal (no foliage)
- Qty: 1 confirmed on 01-21-2021
Classification:
- Division: Magnoliophyta
- Class: Magnoliopsida
- SubClass: eurosid I
- Order: Cucurbitales
- SubOrder:
- Family: Begoniaceae
- SubFamily:
- Tribe:
- SubTribe:
Flowering Data:
This accession has been observed in bloom on:| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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References (internal):
- EEB Greenhouse Holdings native to: Malaya
References (external):
- The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Last accessed on Tuesday, September 26, 2017.
- Begonia pavonina at Wikispecies. Last accessed on Tuesday, September 26, 2017.
- WCSP (2017). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Last accessed on Tuesday, September 26, 2017.
- Matthew Jacobs, Martin Lopez-Garcia, O.-Phart Phrathep, Tracy Lawson, Ruth Oulton & Heather M. Whitney, Photonic multilayer structure of Begonia chloroplasts enhances photosynthetic efficiency in Nature Plants 2, Article number: 16162 (2016). Last accessed on Tuesday, September 26, 2017.
- Quantum Mechanics Turns Leaves Blue at Popular Mechanics. Last accessed on Tuesday, September 26, 2017.
- Begonia pavonina at Strange Wonderful Things. Last accessed on Tuesday, September 26, 2017.
- Image #00 (cropped) & #01 (original): Blue iridescence in the leaves of a Begonia pavonina population, Cameron Highlands, Malaysia copyright Patrick Blanc. Last accessed on Wednesday, September 27, 2017.
data regenerated on Wed, 19 May 2021 13:54:05 -0400 [bcm v4.0]
Images:
Additional images for this accession:
Click on thumbnails to enlarge
Current Accessions in the Begoniaceae
- Begonia aconitifolia
- Begonia brevirimosa ssp. exotica
- Begonia caroliniifolia
- Begonia conchifolia
- Begonia cubensis
- Begonia dietrichiana
- Begonia ferox
- Begonia grandis
- Begonia mannii
- Begonia nelumbiifolia
- Begonia pavonina
- Begonia peltata
- Begonia phyllomaniaca
- Begonia rex 'Red Bull'
- Begonia salaziensis
- Begonia sizemoreae
- Begonia solimutata
- Begonia thiemei
- Begonia undulata
- Begonia valida
= indicates flowering in past 14 days
= images available for this accession
= map available for this accession
= accession added within past 90 days