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Begonia maculata
Also called Polka Dot Begonia
Begonia maculata, the cane or polka dot begonia, is a shrub-like tropical species from the Atlantic rainforest of southeast Brazil, grown for its silver-spotted leaves. It thrives in bright, indirect light with evenly moist soil and warm, humid conditions.
Begonia maculata (maculata meaning "spotted"), the polka dot begonia, is a species of begonia native to southeast Brazil. It grows naturally in the understory of the Atlantic rainforest, with occurrences confirmed in the Brazilian states of Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro. It has been introduced into Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Argentina.
B. maculata is a perennially popular houseplant. As early as 1871, the California Horticulturist described B. maculata as "a very desirable variety," and as recently as 2023, #begoniamaculata was the second most popular species-specific begonia hashtag on Instagram.
Begonia acutifolia · Begonia annulata · Begonia bogneri · Bolivian Begonia · Eyelash Begonia · Begonia carolineifolia · Begonia conchifolia · Clubed begonia · Begonia davisii · Grape Leaf Begonia · Begonia echinosepala · Fuchsia begonia
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Begonia maculata 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.
