Begoniaceae ~ The Begonia

Posted on 31 Aug, 2007 2 comments

I have looked for some information and i hope this is of some use to you, and will help you to add The Begonia to your list of plants.

Begonia is a genus in the flowering plant family Begoniaceae. The only other member of the family Begoniaceae is Hillebrandia, a genus with a single species in the Hawaiian Islands. The genus Symbegonia is now included in Begonia. “Begonia” is the common name as well as the generic name for all members of the genus.

With ca. 1400 species, Begonia is one of the ten largest angiosperm genera. The species are terrestrial (sometimes epiphytic) herbs or undershrubs and occur in subtropical and tropical moist climates, in South and Central America, Africa and southern Asia. Terrestrial species are frequently rhizomatous or tuberous. The flowers are frequently showy and large, white, pink, scarlet or yellow in color.The plants are monoecious, with unisexual male and female flowers occurring separately on the same plant, the male containing numerous stamens, the female having a large inferior ovary and two to four branched or twisted stigmas. In most species the fruit is a winged capsule containing numerous minute seeds, although baccate fruits are also known. The leaves, which are often large and variously marked or variegated, are usually asymmetric (unequal-sided).

Because of their showy flowers and often attractively marked leaves, many species and innumerable hybrids and cultivars are cultivated. The genus is unusual in that species throughout the genus, even those coming from different continents, can frequently be hybridized with each other, and this has led to an enormous number of cultivars. The American Begonia Society classifications begonias into several major groups: cane-like, shrub-like, tuberous, rhizomatous, semperflorens, rex, trailing-scandent, or thick-stemmed. For the most part these groups do not correspond to any formal taxonomic groupings or phylogeny and many species and hybrids have characteristics of more than one group, or fit well into none of them. The genus name honors Michel Bégon, a French patron of botany.

Family = Begoniaceae

Genus = Begonia

Included Species =
B. aptera
B. boisiana
B. chitoensis
B. formosana
B. glabra
B. grandis
B. herbacea
B. metallica
B. nantoensis
B. oxyloba
B. palmata
B. sanguinea
B. taipeiensis
B. ulmifolia

Cross referenced against the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s Taxonomy Browser.

Comments

Marksbegonias

31 Aug, 2007

The American Begonia Society is mentioned, but the are also more local societies: The Scottish Begonia Society, and in England - The National Begonia Society.

Ajay

1 Sep, 2007

Mark, I know I thanked you by private comment too, but just repeating it here so everyone can see the link to the new entry for Begonia - http://www.growsonyou.com/genus/Begonia