Propagation of Begonia scapigera Hook. f. outside its natural habitat in the rainforest zone of Nigeria

Begonia scapigera Hook. f, one of the endangered species of the family Begoniaceae was propagated under two simulated environments outside its natural habitat at the nursery unit of the Department of Forest Resources Management, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. A total of 70 plants comprising of 30 seedlings and 40 adult rhizomes and leaves were randomly collected from rock surface at Erin-Ijesa site in May 2013. Five propagule types: rhizome with and without leaf petioles, seedlings, whole leaves, and leaves cut into wedges with portion of main veins, were planted in three types of soils in humidity chamber. The soils used were loamy sand collected around the mountain base at Erin-Ijesa; sandy loam soil from the Teaching and Research farm, University of Ibadan and washed river sand. A 2×3×5 factorial experiment laid out in a completely randomized design replicated three times was set up giving 15 treatment combinations. It was duplicated to accommodate planting inside and outside the humidity chamber. Data on time of sprout emergence (TSE), number of leaves (NL), leaf area (LA) and rhizome length (RL) were subjected to ANOVA at p α 0.05. Propagules established inside the humidity chamber sprouted earlier and performed significantly better in NL, LA and RL. Propagules established inside the chamber had 95.6% sprouting, while only 37.8% of those established outside the chamber were able to sprout. This confirms that B. scapigera can be grown under a cool, humid environment with bright but indirect light.