Sunday, December 23, 2007

Iridescent Begonia

A cover photo got to be good right? Here it goes, Begonia pavonina. An iridescent begonia endemic to the highlands of West Malaysia. Iridescence is caused by refraction of light and it is probably best represented in cultivation by "blue" ferns - Pyrrosia sp or fern-allies - Selaginella sp.
Okay it is not really as exciting, the flash from my camera just manages to get it from the right angle and the former picture captures the full glory. The above picture captures an average plant. To some extend, the amount of iridescence depends on intensity of light on the plant, age of leaves, genetics ...

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