I pollinated the ovary below with pollen from B.darthvaderiana, and surprisingly, within two days the tepals dropped. This serves to prevent cross-pollination in the wild, but is also a bit of a bain for keepers of these species, as it often makes pollination impossible unless pollen is stored from a previous year, or another plant is also in bloom and can offer pollen.Īnd here, the same plant a few months later with more mature foliage. It is from the section Petermannia which is distinctive in that species from this section tend to put out female flowers before males. Kapuas Hulu is a form of chlorosticta, but, it is hard to say. It can be difficult to distinguish between the types when plants are young. There are multiple forms of this species, usually identified as either green, red, or black.

The intense variegation persists in adult plants, and only gets more dramatic as the plant grows. It can grow to over three feet tall, with cane- type growth. For me it has been the most challenging Begonia species to grow, as it frequently goes through melting spells without any apparent change in environment or care. It was given the designation U038 before being formally identified. I can attest to this, as I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to re-obtain it due to sudden melting episodes. Originally collected in 1967 and introduced into cultivation, it has since developed a reputation of being challenging to keep. It can be found on rocky slopes and damp cliffs at 450m elevation. Low light levels induce a bluish, iridescent coloration on the foliage.Begonia chlorosticta is a species from central Sarawak where is grows in lowland dipterocarp forest. The humidity is kept very high, in a sealed bin. Those two latter cuttings both stabilized and started growing well, so the plant seems somewhat adaptable, but very touchy and slow in the beginning. The roots and base of the cutting were touching the sphagnum, but the lava rock sat under most of the plant. One other cutting was grown on a potting soil type of mix with live moss on top, and another cutting was on mostly sphagnum, but topped with lava rock. In the photo of the specimen clump in bloom, I am using a substrate of sphagnum, bark, and leaf litter. Therefore, it’s best to periodically take cuttings and transfer them to new propagation areas, so you always have “fresh” plants starting. That said, the plant is always at risk of melting, and I have heard from my source that an entire mature colony can rapidly crash. It becomes a little more robust as time goes on. It seems that once it gets past the initial several months of adapting and stabilizing, it becomes somewhat stronger and then the growth is relatively fast. Then after being essentially in stasis for many months, it finally started to grow. I thought I was going to lose the plant I obtained, as well as the cuttings I took from it, as they slowly withered away. In my experience, it is most vulnerable when cuttings are taken. It is somewhat difficult to know exactly what this plant wants or does not want in terms of culture. Getting water on the stems and foliage seems to be a good way to make it melt, so avoid doing that. This is a very delicate and touchy plant which easily crashes and melts away. Begonia See All Search Site Species lichenora Taxon Family Begoniaceae Origin of Taxon Borneo (Sarawak) Growth Habit Climbing, Trailing/Rambling, Clumping, Groundcover Imagesīegonia lichenora in bloom with hand for scaleīegonia lichenora blooms with finger for scaleīegonia lichenora is an extremely rare, miniature species.

Begonia sarawak