this looks like rhizo begonia - but i can't ID the hybrid.
it looks very distinctive.
i found it at Palm Hammock nursery in Miami, FL - they hydridize their own - for hot florida climate.
But they have other ones too. i checked their selling list, but it's not on it.

This is a Rex Cultorum begonia, likely a large-leaved spiral in classification, probably a Tim Anderson (founder of Palm Hammock) hybrid, probably unnamed. Tim was a prolific hybridizer of many oh so gorgeous plants. He did so many that often they did not get named. Rex Cultorum is a special classification with color filled leaves, all with a species Begonia rex in their background. Interestingly enough, B. rex itself is not classified with its offspring, but is classified as a Rhizomatous, Distinctive Foliage.

i'll search for b.cultorum in var societies. but i have not seen that 'red throat' anywhere.
it's a begonia heaven for sure (Palm Hammock) stuffed with amazing plants. though it has a feel of forgotten kingdom - a la 'sleeping beauty'. i just hope it won't disappear.
i have pics of many NOID. should i do more :)? just so i can put up pretty pix ;)?

Can't hurt. I might know it or maybe not. I can identify most species and many hybrids, but certainly no where near all.

Could it be King Begonia 'Merry Christmas'?

http://www.bing.com/images/sea...

http://www.suttons.co.uk/Garde...

Can't hurt. I might know it or maybe not. I can identify most species and many hybrids, but certainly no where near all. Re Palm Hammock - so many great things in the plant world are transitory!

'merry xmas' looks very close, but... it looks like it has 3 points on the leaf and the leaf is somewhat longer, and mine has clearly many more tips all around and the leaf is sort of wider and it also has more pronounced burgundy around central veins - could it be culture/light though?
mine also has little hairs on the leaf. and that red throat is very distinctive. should it be always present? i know begonias are very variable and culture plays a big role in color. and 'merry xmas' is the only one one with similar polka-dots and overall color - so, @LAbegoniac , what's your opinion?

Truthfully, there are so many of these Rex Culivars that look so much alike I would have trouble even guessing. There are some Rex C. collectors who would probably know. I'll see if I can copy the two photos and send it to a couple of them. These are very easy to hybridize, but so difficult for most of us to grow that we don't grow them, just as we in the South don't grow tuberous begonias with their beautiful flowers.

just wanted to add that this was IDed as B. 'Frances Valentine'.
if only I can figure out how to move it to database now..

Begonia 'Francis Valentine' was not on the International Database of Begoniaceae (IDB). This is the most complete listing in the world and its not being listed there would mean it is probably very new or that it has been hybridized by someone unaware of the need to list it there. We who hybridize depend on it to keep from using a name already registered there. Another bad thing is that sometimes commercial venders list a name or change a name to enhance the chance of sales - bad!. You can list it on the IDB yourself, but knowing the uncertainty of the identification and lack of information on parentage, source, etc. - maybe of course you may have a good source or a publication of the name? - I'd be reluctant to register it there myself. It would lock up the name to prevent future use and someone somewhere might be able to add info..

in our DB originator (of name?) is Tim Anderson. and he was a well known hybridizer and the pic that i took was in PHOE nursery (Palm Hammock Orchid Estate): his nursery in Miami FL. it closed.
beyond that i don't know. if the powers of DB decide it does not belong there - it's their decision, of course.
i just stumbled on it and it was very special. I see that Logees carries it now. I don't see it anywhere else.

I found it at the International Database of Begoniaceae, listed as follows:

Name: B. 'Frances Valentine'
Plant type: Rex Cultorum
Author or originatio: Tim Anderson
Place: Florida, USA
Cultivar: Yes

@skylark, I see you figured out how to get your two photos uploaded to our garden.org database.

I see I missed it on the IDB because I spelled it Francis. That is one handicap of the IDB, if mispelled unlike Google it doesn't come up. The good thing if I put in Fran or Valentine everything with those as parts of a name would come up - a feature I often use when I don't know the spelling.. It is a wonderful begonia resource. Ross Bolwell, of Australia, its originator and keeper, just visited the American Begonia Society Convention in Sacramento and toured as well. He visited the Ft. Worth Begonia Species Bank too.