Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Begonia cucullata

clubed begonia, wax begonia
Habit Plants perennial (rhizomatous), usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely hairy.
Stems

[10–]30–70[–100] cm.
Leaves

stipules lanceolate to oblong, 7–19 × 3–6 mm;

petiole 5–46 mm, glabrous;

blade asymmetric, ovate to ± reniform, (28–)46–72[–80] × (28–)33–85 mm, base cuneate on shorter side, usually rounded on longer one, margins not lobed, crenate, teeth apices setose, otherwise eciliate, apex obtuse, surfaces glabrous (or glabrate to sparsely hairy in Alabama specimens).
Peduncles

22–75 mm (in fruit);

bracts lanceolate to ovate.
Flowers

white to pink; staminate: tepals 4, outer 2 (sepals) suborbiculate or reniform, 7–10 mm, inner 2 (petals) narrowly obovate, 5–7 mm;

stamens 24–33; pistillate: tepals 4 or 5, obovate, 6–9 mm.
Capsules

8–15 × 6–12 mm, larger wings deltate-rounded, 10–17 mm wide, smaller 3.5–5 mm wide.
2n

= 34, 56 (South America).

Begonia cucullata
Phenology Flowering spring.
Habitat Along streams in swamps, floodplain woodlands, cabbage palmetto hummocks, wet ditches, wet and mucky soil, often in shade
Elevation 0–10 m (0–0 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; South America [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Begonia cucullata is found throughout Florida and recently has been collected in nearby Alabama (Conecuh County). The Alabama plants are typical of this species except that the leaves and petioles are glabrate to sparsely hairy; it may require further study. The distinction between varieties is not always clear (B. G. Schubert 1954) and they are not recognized here. Florida specimens often are treated as var. hookeri (de Candolle) L. B. Smith & B. G. Schubert, a name that has been put in synonymy of var. cucullata (L. B. Smith et al. 1986). From the morphologic variation observed, it is possible that this species escaped repeatedly from cultivation. It appears to be able to produce abundant seeds; capsules are regularly found on specimens and sometimes are abundant. Known horticulturally as B. semperflorens, B. cucullata has played an important role in ornamental horticulture.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 6, p. 62.
Parent taxa Begoniaceae > Begonia
Sibling taxa
B. hirtella
Name authority Willdenow: Sp. Pl. 4: 414. (1805)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers