The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Begonia dregei
Also called Mapleleaf Begonia, Wild Begonia
Begonia dregei is a South African species with a swollen, moisture-storing caudex and grape-shaped maple-like leaves, grown as a small shrub-like plant. It needs bright light, careful watering and good drainage, since the caudex rots if kept wet.
Begonia dregei, the maple leaf begonia, grape-leaf begonia, or bonsai begonia, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Begonia native to the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa.
One of its most notable features is the swollen caudex, which stores moisture.
B. dregei is somewhat unusual in that it will hybridize with begonias of different horticultural groups. When crossed with rexes, upright plants with small leaves are usually produced. When crossed with cane begonias, the progeny are cane-like. When crossed with Begonia socotrana, cheimantha-type plants are the result. The American Begonia Society calls cheimantha-type begonias "cousins" to Rieger begonias.
Some of the more distinctive hybrids are B. 'Weltoniensis', B. 'Airy Fairy', and B. 'Richard Robinson'. B. 'Richard Robinson' is named for Alfred D. Robinson, who grew hundreds of plants from seed to prove B. dregei was a species. B. 'Weltoniensis', (which was originally spelled without the first 'i', "Weltonensis") was raised by Colonel Trevor Clark.
B. dregei is a drought-tolerant perennial herb. It grows primarily in forests near the coast, up to an altitude of 600m. They grow in small, isolated groups in the wild and cross-hybridize easily, which has historically caused some confusion.
Begonia acutifolia · Begonia annulata · Begonia bogneri · Bolivian Begonia · Eyelash Begonia · Begonia carolineifolia · Begonia conchifolia · Clubed begonia · Begonia davisii · Begonia echinosepala · Fuchsia begonia · Fuchsia Begonia
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Begonia dregei by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
