Home > Begonian > Volume 71 (March/April 2004)

Begonia U029
by Freda Holley

Joy Porter has not only introduced me to her own hybrid, but to so many species I love. It seems she always knows about the most unusual and lovely ones! Since I have a bit of space here, let me tell you about another one because just as I was completing the above article I received great photos from Mary Bucholtz of its most unusual aspect, the flowers.

The female flowers have very ruffled petals! But it is not only the flowers that are beautiful on B. 0029, the leaves are such a glistening, lovely dark color with magnificent red reverse. In the right light and temperature they tend to cup up whichgives the plant overall a shapely appearance.

Now this plant is not from Brazil where as many of you know most of my favorites originate, but from Honduras where my husband RL was born and raised.

Dr. Fred A. Barkley gave seed of this plant to Logees many moons ago and seed were listed in our seed fund in 1984. Logee's sold it under the name B. 'Mystique'. My own seed came from Joy and 1 managed to raise just one plant in Arkansas. Like B. 'Normand' one of those plants wound up with Gene Salisbury and he gave me back a cutting when we moved to Oklahoma. It grew well in the cool climate of Arkansas, but it clearly doesn't like the lower humidity here. In neither place have I been able to set seed; nor has Gene. Yet, it must come from seed; has anyone else managed to get seed? I suspect it might be one of those that refuses to accept it's own pollen and ours are all clones.

Below are Mary Bucholtz's great photos of B.U029.