National Museum of Natural Science

Begonia picturata belongs to section Coelocentrum. It is native to China’s Guangxi Province, near the border with Vietnam, where it grows on the walls of limestone cavern entrances in shady broad-leaved forests where the soil is depleted. The leaves are covered in down-like hairs and have contrasting textures. This is a new species of begonia reported by a research team led by Professor Ching-I Peng in 2005. In the area where it grows it is collected by the local people and used as pig feed.

Begonia picturata