Do plants need a hothouse in India? Sure, I’ve seen strawberries been grown inside rows of plastic tents, but that must be to conserve water, I thought. But then in Darjeeling’s botanical garden, in December, I saw plants flowering. Unfortunately this interesting flower was unlabelled, an unusual thing in a botanical garden. Perhaps it is so common that everyone in the world except me knows what it is called.
Not having a clue, I’ll have to depend on you to supply possibilities. This was a potted plant, less than waist high. I liked the appearance of the leaves: leathery, with a reddish brown underside and as hairy as the flower.
Note added: Thanks to two readers, Sujata and Bama, I began to look at the genus Begonia. Although I don’t have a photo of the flowers spread out to look at their inner structure, in order to strengthen the genus identification, their suggestion does look viable. Moreover, there are multiple species of Begonia native to the eastern Himalayas which are very hairy. Some of these would find their way into a collection in Darjeeling’s botanical garden.
Don't hold your breath 
Is it not Begonia?
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I don’t think begonia flowers have hairy petals
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Looks like an orchid, but not quite. Is the picture of the flower zoomed in a lot? Is there any picture of the whole plant?
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No, don’t have the whole plant, but you can see the leaves and the flowers. It’s not zoomed in a lot. You can see the whole flower here.
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On second look, it could be a begonia. It seems that many species of hairy begonias are native to the eastern Himalayas and east into Yunnan. Thanks
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Google didn’t find it.
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Indeed
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By looking at the leaves and stems alone, I’d think it’s a Begonia. However, if that’s the case, this is the first time I see one with hairy petals. But the shape of the petals does look similar with other Begonias.
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Interesting that two of you agree. I’ll take a longer look at begonias now.
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