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Begonia minor; photograph Patrick salvador, CC BY-SA, via GBIF CC BY-SAPatrick salvador, CC BY-SA, via GBIF

Begonia minor Jacq.

Jamaica wood sorrel

Begoniaceae · Jamaica · listed by its genus as a tropical foliage plant

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Begonia minor, photograph Patrick salvador, CC BY-SA, via GBIFBegonia minor, photograph Jean Pierre Pons, CC BY-SA, via GBIFBegonia minor, photograph cédric Hoarau, CC BY-SA, via GBIFBegonia minor, photograph florian griveau, CC BY-SA, via GBIFBegonia minor, photograph Jean Pierre Pons, CC BY-SA, via GBIFBegonia minor, photograph Eric Gentelet, CC BY-SA, via GBIF 22 photographs ›
Habitat figuresfrom few records
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
17.8°C
Record low 14.6 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
26°C
Aug at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
2,370mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
31–43DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in the habitat's months, not shifted
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
A sharp rainy season, May to June and August to December (the habitat's months, not shifted), in a year of even temperature. rain rule, CHELSA
Not shifted: the shift rule does not apply to this habitat. The chart is in the habitat's months.

From few records: 5 records in 3 grid cells. The records.

Summary

Begonia minor is a species of flowering plant in the family Begoniaceae, native to Jamaica. It's also been introduced to Madeira, Réunion, and the Society Islands. In 1777, it was the first Begonia to be introduced to Great Britain. Initially, this specimen was known as B. nitida. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Begonia minor", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Begonia

Begonia is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Begoniaceae. The genus contains more than 2,000 different plant species, distributed primarily across tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Central and South America, with Africa considered the center of origin. Some species are commonly grown indoors as ornamental houseplants in cooler climates, or cultivated outside in summertime for their bright colorful flowers, which have petals but no sepals.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Begonia", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Grouped as a tropical foliage plant, listed under the genus Begonia in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “shrub”, “wet tropical”.

Seasons

The rain rule reads a sharp season: 70% of the median year's rain (1,803 mm of 2,380 mm) falls in May to June and August to December. The temperature curve is flat, 3.1 °C between the warmest and coldest month, so the growing-season rule does not infer a growing season from it. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere. The temperature curve moves under 4 °C between the warmest and coldest month, where the shift rule does not apply, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Rain

2,380 mm in the median year at the habitat, 1,803 mm of it May to June and August to December. Wettest month October at 382 mm, driest months (2 at 96 mm). Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 2,344 mm to 2,380 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 2,370 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 2,380 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 31 to 43 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 31, the highest 90th-percentile month 44).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 17.8 °C, the absolute minimum 14.6 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 27.2 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 18.2 °C in February (across the grid cells of the range 16.3 °C to 20.8 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 25.6 °C in August (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 17.8 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 67 to 71% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected +658 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Group. Listed under the genus Begonia in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “shrub”, “wet tropical”. A group is taken only where Kew's description of the species agrees with the table's listing. The table gives no figure and no prose; the cold floor is the habitat's alone.

Climate across the habitat

From few records: this habitat climate is read from 5 records in 3 grid cells; a page says so under 12 records or 5 cells, and shows the figures as read.

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Begonia minor through the yearWarmest month August, mean daily high 26 °C; coldest month February, mean nightly low 18.2 °C; 2,380 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.10°15°20°25°30°27.2° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER14.6° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400mm rainDLI 31–43RH 67–71%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 3 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C22 / 21–2422 / 21–2423 / 22–2424 / 22–2524 / 23–2525 / 24–2625 / 24–2626 / 24–2725 / 24–2625 / 23–2624 / 22–2523 / 21–24
Night °C18 / 17–2118 / 16–2118 / 17–2119 / 17–2220 / 18–2221 / 19–2321 / 19–2321 / 19–2321 / 19–2321 / 19–2320 / 18–2219 / 17–22
Rain mm117 / 114–11996 / 95–9896 / 91–100122 / 114–128279 / 266–280206 / 200–213146 / 143–153221 / 216–223281 / 268–283382 / 368–382247 / 244–249187 / 184–188
DLI33 / 33–3337 / 36–3741 / 41–4143 / 43–4440 / 40–4040 / 40–4042 / 41–4241 / 40–4138 / 38–3834 / 33–3432 / 31–3231 / 31–32
RH %68 / 66–7067 / 65–6967 / 65–6967 / 65–7069 / 66–7269 / 65–7267 / 65–7068 / 65–7169 / 66–7271 / 68–7370 / 68–7268 / 66–70
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 3 grid cells holding the 5 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1439:2067 (18.025, -76.625). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 14.6 °C, 1st-percentile night 17.8 °C, 99th-percentile day 27.2 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 3 distinct grid cells holding 5 of the 5 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1439:2067 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 18.00_-76.875, lapse-corrected +658 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 796 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeJamaica · introduced: Madeira, Réunion, Society Is. · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker18.071, -76.656 · in the densest population, 8 records (100% of those in range)
Kew's description“shrub” · “wet tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 8 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 5 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 7 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 2 km away. 85 records outside the WCVP native range not used. Under a dozen records behind the map and the climate. 3 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 8 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Begonia minor, photograph 1did not loadBegonia minor, photograph 2did not loadBegonia minor, photograph 3did not loadBegonia minor, photograph 4did not loadBegonia minor, photograph 5did not loadBegonia minor, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: Patrick salvador, CC BY-SA, via GBIF; Jean Pierre Pons, CC BY-SA, via GBIF (2); cédric Hoarau, CC BY-SA, via GBIF; florian griveau, CC BY-SA, via GBIF; Eric Gentelet, CC BY-SA, via GBIF.

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Hillia parasitica Hillia parasitica Tibey trepador Photo: CC BY, Guillaume DelaitreSerpocaulon loriceum Serpocaulon loriceum Clambering Polypody Photo: CC BY, Zac PetersonPeperomia verticillata Peperomia verticillata Piperaceae Photo: CC0, DaderotDichaea hystricina Dichaea hystricina Arboreal leafystem orchid Photo: CC0, author not statedBegonia acutifolia Begonia acutifolia Begoniaceae Photo: CC BY, Cliff from I now live in Arlington, VA…Pleurothallis ruscifolia Pleurothallis ruscifolia Green bonnet orchid Photo: CC BY, Guillaume Delaitre

Other Begonia 279 in the reference

Begonia abdullahpieei Begoniaceae Begonia acerifolia Begonia acerifolia Maple-leaved begonia Photo: CC BY, Yuri SofronovBegonia acetosa Begonia acetosa Ruby begonia Photo: CC0, Daderot Begonia acetosella Begoniaceae Begonia acida Begonia acida Begoniaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Michael WolfBegonia aconitifolia Begonia aconitifolia Aconite Leaved Begonia Photo: CC BY-SA, rubens curveloBegonia acutifolia Begonia acutifolia Begoniaceae Photo: CC BY, Cliff from I now live in Arlington, VA… Begonia albomaculata Begoniaceae Begonia × albopicta Begoniaceae Begonia alice-clarkiae Begoniaceae Begonia almedana Begoniaceae Begonia amphioxus Begoniaceae all 280 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Begonia lucida; Begonia nitida; Begonia nitida var. discolor; Begonia nitida var. pilosula; Begonia nitida var. speciosa and 3 more. (GBIF Backbone)

Under another author Begonia obliqua L'Hér. is an older name of this species, not Begonia obliqua, a species of the reference. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipedia

The record

Family
Begoniaceae
Described by
Jacq.
Native to
Jamaica
Wild records
8 in range · 7 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-21
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-21
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-21
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-21names fetched 2026-10-21
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 22 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (19 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 1 at a herbarium, 2 at a zoo; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-21
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-21NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 18.00_-76.875, lapse-corrected +658 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-21
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-21
iNaturalist taxon inat.taxon not asked
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild not asked
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-21
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 19 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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