Tuberous begonia

Tuberous is an informal classification of Begonias named for the tubers that lie dormant after the plants dies back in the fall or winter, from which the plant regrows in the spring or fall. This type of begonia is usually grown for the flowers they produce, sometimes regarded as some of the most spectacular of the genus. They can be as small as half an inch to as big around as dinner plates. They come in all shades but blue, and some have different colored edges, or are scented. They vary in growth habit, some kinds trailing with pendulant flowers, others with sturdy, upright stalks.

Tuberous begonias were one of the first types of begonias ever to be hybridized. One of the first hybrids produced was B. x sedenii in 1870, a cross between B. boliviensis, collected by botanist Richard Pearce, and a species from the Andes. Another species from Peru, B. davisii (named after Walter Davis), was also used in early breeding.