PlantFiles: Cane Begonia, Angel Wing Begonia
Begonia coccinea

Begonia coccinea is a species begonia discovered in Brazil in 1841. Many hybrids have been produced using it as a parent. I can be best described as having thick, leathery, solid bright-green leaves with a soft sheen and bright red flowers. (the specific epithet means Begonia with red flowers). Variants in flower color include dark pink and deep coral/salmon.
B. coccinea does not have spots or splotches on the leaves as they are solid in color. The plant can top 15' with the right growing conditions.

This plant is listed as a 10a, but it seems to do quite nicely in 9b Saint Petersburg, FL. We had one cold night down to 26 degrees this winter and it showed no damage.

I have had my Angels Wing for quite a few years now. The Original was grown from my Grandmother back in the 60s and each family member has a piece. At first I almost killed the poor thing from over watering it but quickly got the hang of it. I have mine in my office facing East and it does great. It only blooms twice a year for me but not bad for a guy huh?

When I bought this plant it was nearly dead and looked pitiful. I had it in an apartment with bright ambient light for a year, and it grew a little, but nothing spectacular. When I moved, I put it out in the front yard, still potted, and to my horror the stems turned bright red and the leaves scorched. I moved it to the porch, where it still got alot of sun, but not as much direct during the day. It EXPLODED! It bloomed like a madman and got HUGE! This was 6 months ago and it still has big groups of blooms! All I need to do is keep the spider mites from killing it off, and I will be set. It is absolutely stunning.

I have a huge Angel Wing Begonia that was given to me by the sweetest old Southern woman whom I loved dearly and has since passed. She had the plant for ages, and said her 'li'l angels' would watch over us. I've had this plant for 12 years, and only now realize what a prize I have. I have it located in filtered sunlight or the leaves scorch. It also seems to damage leaves if it gets too much wind. I have cut it back to 6" when it was damaged by frost and it came back just fine.

This year it bloomed with clusters the size of a cantaloupe and they were a beautiful pink/salmon color. I don't know what I did differently to deserve such an awesome bloom, but I'm so very thankful for it! I'm a new member here, and truly regret not getting pictures of this amazing bloom to share. You can bet I won't miss an opportunity again!

I grow this as a houseplant. It is a very good houseplant and tolerates bad light and neglect. It is a lovely plant.

I once had this plant in my breakfast room, I have long double windows and it just went crazy, but, had few blooms.
I love this plant.

I love these plants-in all of their various incarnations. Some rarely flower and some are really floriferous when they get started or reach maturity. It all depends on the variety. There is one that I have heard referred to as 'trout leaf begonia'--reddish tinged with silvery spots and beige-ish flowers (when they arrive)-- that is SMASHING--just really a lovely plant. The old standard 'Lucerne' is one of these, I believe. With bright green leaves and pink flowers in their juvenile form, these are fabulous container plants for the garden.

Start cuttings in the spring and set them out for the summer--just great stuff! I set several cuttings in a medium size pot or hanging basket and pinch the heck out of them--really nice. But, if you put just a couple cuttings in a pot and grow them on as a specimen plant, transplanting them as necessary, up to...say a 12" pot (they favor clay), they are tall, rangy, and VERY dependable!

I had one that was nearly 10 years old. It sat at the back of a grouping of plants in a corner receiving very bright, but not direct sun. The other plants filled out the base, as the begonia was nearly 9 ft. tall, but it just bloomed and bloomed! It was a total mess underneath all of those pots and it took alot of cleanup, but it was very eye catching--non stop bloom!--high marks from me!

Ive always found it very interesting to observe how different the juvenile form (low and bushy, responds to pinching) differs from the adult form (when they really display their name-sake characteristic "cane begonias" i.e. tall, rangy, producing these stiff, upright 'canes'). It's fun to have a plant around that 'grows up'!

I have had mine for about 4 years now. The person I got it from has never gotten hers to bloom and it stands about 5-6 foot tall. Mine if around 3 foot right now and for the past year and half since I moved back to Northern Nevada it has bloomed about once ever 2-4 weeks. It sits on the kitchen table or the picture window in my house and gets a good amount of afternoon light. The blooms have seemed to always come the side facing the sun as it is setting. My flower bunches have been around 4-6" in diameter and varying in color across the bunch itself. They go from soft pink to almost blood red in the same bunch.

This plant can get quite large here in Northcentral Florida, zone 8b--I've seen them as tall as five feet--and the constantly falling flowers can become a nusiance when it has to be overwintered indoors, as it does here. It makes an attractive plant for the winter greenhouse, where the falling flowers aren't really a problem, and during the summer it loves a mostly shady spot outdoors, especially near a pond.

My Mother grew these plants for years, both in New Orleans and on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, giving away many cuttings. She was constantly pruning them and rooting the cuttings in water at the window above the kitchen sink, where they got lots of humidity, and the constantly falling flowers were easily cleaned up. Both my Mother's and my Angelwings always bloomed profusely during the warm weather, and I've read some are everblooming. I fertilize with regular houseplant fertilizer--a little bit every time I water--usually Miracle Gro liquid. Tall plants will need staking and should be protected from wind.

I've grown the brightly colored, red-flowered, 'Dragon' series, with shiny, light-green leaves, and am now rooting some cuttings of the old fashioned, dark-green leaf type with silver spots, and pale, shell-pink flowers--quite delicate looking, but really a very sturdy plant. These plants do require constant maintenance, but their beauty and persistent flowering make all the attention they take worth it for me.

I received my cuttings about 2 years ago from a friend, whose plant is well over 100 years. I have only got it to bloom once since having it. And it bloomed in the winter time here in CO. The flowers are small, and can be easlily over-looked. But I used Miracle-Grow as a fertilizer for it. I am not sure if it likes to be root-bound, but since the plant has bloomed, I haven't gotten it to bloom again. And I am sure that it has out-grown it's space in the pot.

I can't get my Angel Wing to flower. I've had it for about a year, and now that it is getting warmer, it has gotten much larger, but still no flowers. I live the the Seattle area, and place the plant in front of a window. Perhaps it needs more sun.

I received a cutting of Angel Wing Begonia or should I say a couple of leaves last summer. It is now growing profusely and has beautiful blooms hanging in clusters around it.....very easy to grow and its foliage is really attractive. The plant is now about 12-14 inches high. Loves full sun.....the cutting was from my neighbor and she had the plant in an old styrofoam cooler and it had been growing in there for years. By the way I live right on the coast in Texas (Galveston) and it loves the humidity and heat.

I have had Begonia coccinea 'Lucerna' for over 27 years. I have given pieces of the "mother" plant to more people than I can remember. My plant was given to me as a young plant by a friend who was moving to Georgia; my friend said it didn't grow, but I started feeding it eggshell water and it took off.

I love this plant as I do all my other plants, but I'm worried about the mother plant because I've had to re-pot it when the original rootball became brittle and [the roots began] breaking off. I'm rooting it in water for which I've had excellent results in the past.

I love my Begonias (Rex and Angel Wing) so much that a design I made incorporating the leaf shape and patterning will one day soon be tattooed onto my back as my wings. Sick and true :) sarah

The variety Begonia coccinea 'Lucerna' has large asymetrical leaves with a smattering of silver drops on a dark green wide leaf (4" by 6-8") with a darkish pink underside.