I'm on my second one now since I lost mine last year due to over fertilizing. I think it is a Honduras/Guatemala species and also is known as U434. Check the abastro site.

U401 -U450

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somewhere i have saved some beautiful pictures than an old member had posted of this begonia (U434) i'll see if i can dig them up.

-ming

Here is a picture I took of U434 and sizemorea last September. It was at the house of one of the members of the local begonia chapter.

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Thank you both so much! That's it! Sure is a beauty, hm?

Thought occurs to me--is 'barsalouxii' some seller's idea of a name? I think it's a shame it takes so long to put names on some of the U numbers when they are determined to be natural hybrids, but until a determination is made seems like just sticking with the number is so much more helpful--and exciting! Just think--I have something so new nobody knows what it is! (That's only one reason I buy them of course--they have to appeal to me by how they look too.) But would a false name do anything more than confuse a very confusing situation? I really like to know the names of things. Sometimes I buy things without names thinking I'll be able to identify them, sometimes I lose tags when things are too new to be fixed in my pointy little head, but I really like to have the right names. Once when I was trying to find a plant I had only had identified by a common name, I ordered four different plants that had that too-common common name, got two plants each of two things that weren't the thing I was looking for--this was before the internet and these forums of course!--and even with the forums I'm not absolutely sure I have the right thing, but I'm at least a great deal closer. I have been known to order begonias by the name I thought might be what I already had without a name. Sure wish I had a begonia club nearby. You guys sure help!

So I've now acquired one of these, probably from the same person GreenElbows got it from.

I couldn't find many references for it, and doing a browser search just came up with multiple re-published links for the vendor's selling pages, LOL!

Has it been confirmed as the name for U434?

It sure is a beauty. And Butch, can you tell us more about the conditions it was growing in when you photographed that gorgeous plant? I know it was awhile ago, but I'm wondering about its light and temp preferences.

Any additional info would be great!
Thanks,
Jane

Hi Jane,

They love the heat and humidity outdoors for sure but often dwindle away to nothing through winter (why though?) This year I got another one and just left it indoors (under lights) with no extra care than I would give any other begonia (water when needed, no extra humidity in other words). So far it seems to be growing like gangbusters. Winter will tell me if growing it permanently indoors makes a difference or not.

And yes that is the confirmed name now - B. barsalouxiae. Check the ABS site for a write up about it.

Here are some pictures of it from last year. No pictures of the new one this year.

The leaves tend to scar easily from falling debris.

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B. barsalouxii was reported to be a hybrid of B. plebeja by Kathleen Burt-Utley in her 'book' (Tulane Studies in Zoology and Botany, a Revision of Central American Species of Begonia Section Gireoudia, etc., etc.)Interesting that the ABS "U" listing considers it a synonym of B. plebeja, the description differs from B. plebeja. This plant has caused a lot of interest, hasn't it. . .