Begonia cucullata

Willd.

Begonia, Wax begonia

BegoniaceaeLeavesRoots

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What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves, Rhizomes

The leaves are eaten as a cooling salad and are considered the edible portion, along with rhizomes.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. It grows in rainforests and disturbed areas up to 3,000 m above sea level.

Argentina, Asia, Australia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil*, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Ethiopia, French Guiana, Haiti, Hawaii, Himalayas, Indonesia, Korea, Mauritius, Mexico, North America, Pacific, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Reunion, SE Asia, South Africa, South America, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Antigua & Barbuda, Armenia, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Bolivia, Brazil, Bahamas, Bhutan, Belize, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Micronesia, Grenada, Georgia, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Haiti, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jamaica, Jordan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Kiribati, St Kitts & Nevis, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, St Lucia, Sri Lanka, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Mongolia, Mauritius, Maldives, Mexico, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Nepal, Nauru, New Zealand, Oman, Panama, Peru, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Palau, Paraguay, Qatar, Reunion, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, Singapore, Suriname, El Salvador, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tonga, Turkey, Trinidad & Tobago, Tuvalu, Taiwan, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, St Vincent, Venezuela, Vietnam, Vanuatu, Samoa, Yemen, South Africa

How to Identify

A herb. It grows 1.5 m tall. The stems are fleshy. They are erect and branched. They are green to red and hairy when young. The leaves are oblique and oval and unequal on opposite sides. They are 1-14 cm long by 2-9 cm wide. They can be rolled inwards at the tip. There are teeth along the edge. The leaves are waxy green above and pale green underneath. The leaf stalks are reddish and 5 cm long. The flowers are white to pink. The fruit is an oval capsule 1 cm long.

How to Grow

Plants can be grown from seeds or stem or leaf cuttings.

Medicinal Uses

The leaves are traditionally used for their cooling properties.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Begonia cucullata, also known as clubbed begonia, is a species of the Begoniaceae that is native to South American countries of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. A common garden plant and part of the section Begonia, it was described in 1805 by Carl Ludwig Willdenow (1765–1812). The specific epithet "cucullata" means "resembling a hood" or "hooded".

Notes

There are 900-1,000-1,500 Begonia species. It can become invasive.

Names & Synonyms

Azedinha-do-brejo, Begonia lilin

References (9)

Bircher, A. G. & Bircher, W. H., 2000, Encyclopedia of Fruit Trees and Edible Flowering Plants in Egypt and the Subtropics. AUC Press. p 56
Hedrick, U.P., 1919, (Ed.), Sturtevant's edible plants of the world. p 95
Hibbert, M., 2002, The Aussie Plant Finder 2002, Florilegium. p 40
Kew Plants of the World Online
Kinupp, V. F., 2007, Plantas alimenticias nao-convencionais da regiao metropolitana de Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil p 69
Laferriere, J. E., 1992, Begonias as Food and Medicine. Economic Botany, Vol. 46, No. 1, pp. 114-116
Marinelli, J. (Ed), 2004, Plant. DK. p 446
Sp. pl. 4(1):414. 1805
Sukarya, D. G., (Ed.) 2013, 3,500 Plant Species of the Botanic Gardens of Indonesia. LIPI p 1071