Overview
Perennial succulent herbs, very rarely subshrubs. Stem erect, frequently rhizomatous, or plants tuberous and either acaulescent or shortly stemmed, rarely lianoid or climbing with adventitious roots, or stoloniferous. Leaves simple, rarely palmately compound, alternate or all basal, petiolate, stipules usually deciduous; blade often oblique and asymmetric, rarely symmetric, margin irregularly serrate and divided, occasionally entire, venation usually palmate. Flowers unisexual, plants monoecious, rarely dioecious, (1 or) 2-4 to several, rarely numerous in dichotomous cyme, sometimes in panicles, with pedicel and bracts. Staminate flower: tepals 2 or 4 and decussate, usually outer ones larger, inner ones smaller; stamens usually numerous; filaments free or connate at base; anthers 2-celled, apical or lateral. Pistillate flower: tepals 2-5(-10), usually free, rarely connate at base; ovary nodding, pendulous, or ascending, 1-3-, rarely 4-8-loculed; placentae axile or parietal; styles 2 or 3(or more), free or fused at base, forked once or more; stigma turgid, spirally twisted-tortuous or U-shaped, capitate or reniform and setose-papillose. Capsule dry, sometimes berrylike, unequally or subequally 3-winged, rarely wingless and 3- or 4-horned; seeds very numerous, minute, oblong, testa pale brown, reticulate.
Two or three genera and more than 1400 species: widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world; one genus and 173 species (141 endemic) in China.[1]
Photos
Taxonomy
The Family Begoniaceae is further organized into finer groupings including:
- Subfamily (35): Abietoideae · Amygdaloideae · Apioideae · Asteroideae · Caryophylloideae · Cichorioideae · Coliadinae · Cyperoideae · Cyrtandroideae · Epidendroideae · Ericoideae · Faboideae · Grevilleoideae · Helleboroideae · Hydrangeoideae · Iridoideae · Isopyroideae · Lamioideae · Nepetoideae · Orchidoideae · Philadelphoideae · Polemonioideae · Pyroideae · Ranunculoideae · Rhinanthoideae · Rhododendroideae · Scrophularioideae · Sedoideae · Simarouboideae · Spiraeoideae · Theoideae · Trollioideae · Vaccinioideae · Violoideae · Yuccoideae
- Tribe (42): Abutilieae · Amygdaleae · Andromedeae · Anemoneae · Anthemideae · Arctoteae · Asphodeleae · Astereae · Banksieae · Calceolarieae · Calluneae · Coreopsideae · Delphinieae · Diapensieae · Eupatorieae · Gratioleae · Grevilleeae · Hyacintheae · Hydrangeae · Irideae · Isopyreae · Lamieae · Lonicereae · Maleae · Mentheae · Narcisseae · Orchideae · Peucedaneae · Phaseoleae · Philadelpheae · Polemonieae · Primuleae · Rhododendreae · Sileneae · Spiraeeae · Streptocarpeae · Theeae · Tulipeae · Verbeneae · Veroniceae · Vicieae · Violeae
- Genus (50): Amethysteya · Augustia · Barya · Begonia · Begoniella · Caiophora · Casparya · Chirita · Coralia · Dierama · Diploclinium · Ewaldia · Fargesia · Felicia · Gaerdtia · Gireoudia · Gurltia · Haagea · Haworthia · Hemizygia · Hillebrandia · Huszia · Knesebeckia · Lepsia · Leptospermum · Meconopsis · Mezierea · Moschkowitzia · Nassauvia · Neopaxia · Orthosiphon · Parafestuca · Petermannia · Pilderia · Platycentrum · Pleione · Pritzelia · Pterostyrax · Sassea · Scheidweileria · Semibegoniella · Stanhopea · Steineria · Stemmacantha · Stibadotheca · Symbegonia · Tittelbachia · Trachelanthus · Trendelenburgia · Wageneria
- Species: ZipcodeZoo has pages for 3,824 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in the Family Begoniaceae.
Genera
Amethysteya
Augustia
Agustinia (IPA: ) is a of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of South America. Like all known sauropods, it was quadrupedal and herbivorous. Although some sauropods are known to have body armor, Agustinia's armor was unique even among sauropods. It had a series of wide, vertical spikes and plates down the center of its back, somewhat like the unrelated Stegosaurus. Aside from the armor, very little is known about the anatomy of Agustinia. A fibula (lower leg bone) has been recovered that is about 3 feet (895mm) long. When compared to the same bone in related dinosaurs, this indicates that Agustinia may have been about 50 feet (15 meters) long. [more]
Barya
Begonia
Perennial succulent herbs, rarely subshrubs. Stem erect, frequently rhizomatous, or plants tuberous and either acaulescent or shortly stemmed, rarely lianoid or climbing with adventitious roots, or stoloniferous. Leaves simple, rarely palmately compound, alternate or all basal; blade often oblique and asymmetric, rarely symmetric, margin often irregularly serrate and divided, occasionally entire, venation usually palmate; petiole long, weak; stipules membranous, usually deciduous. Flowers unisexual, plants monoecious, rarely dioecious, (1 or) 2-4 to several, rarely numerous, in dichotomous cymes, sometimes in panicle, with pedicels and bracts. Staminate flower: tepals 2 or 4 and decussate, usually outer ones larger, inner ones smaller; stamens usually numerous; filaments free or connate at base; anthers 2-celled, apical or lateral; connectives extended at apex, sometimes apiculate. Pistillate flower: tepals 2-5(-10) ; pistil composed of 2-5(-7) carpels; ovary inferior, 1-3(-7) -loculed; placentae axile or parietal; styles 2 or 3(or more), free or fused at base, forked once or more; stigma turgid, spirally twisted-tortuous or U-shaped, capitate or reniform, setose-papillose. Capsule dry, sometimes berrylike, unequally or subequally 3-winged, rarely wingless and 3- or 4-horned; seeds very numerous, pale brown, oblong, minute, testa reticulate.[2] [more]
Begoniella
Caiophora
Casparya
Chirita
Herbs, perennial or rarely annual, terrestrial or epipetric, often rhizomatous, stemless or with simple or branched stems. Leaves few to many, basal or along stem and opposite, seldom in whorls of 3 or alternate, unequal to equal in a pair; leaf blade puberulent to villous or velutinous, rarely glabrous, base cuneate to cordate, rarely attenuate. Inflorescences umbel-like, lax or dense, axillary, 1- to many-flowered cymes; bracts 2, opposite, rarely to 7 and whorled, 1, or absent. Calyx actinomorphic or slightly zygomorphic, 5-sect from base or (3-) 5-lobed; segments equal to subequal. Corolla purple to blue or white to yellow, pink or purple-red, rarely flesh colored, zygomorphic, inside puberulent, glandular puberulent, or glabrous; tube funnelform-tubular to campanulate or cylindric, not swollen or gibbous abaxially, longer than limb, 0.2-2 cm in diam.; limb 2-lipped; adaxial lip 2-lobed, slightly to 2-3.5 X shorter than abaxial lip; abaxial lip 3-lobed, lobes equal or central lobe longer, apex rounded, rarely to obtuse. Stamens 2, adnate to abaxial side of corolla tube near or above middle, included; anthers dorsifixed, coherent, thecae divaricate, confluent at apex, dehiscing longitudinally; connective not projecting; staminodes (absent or 1-) 3, adnate to adaxial or adaxial and abaxial sides of corolla tube. Disc ringlike. Ovary linear, 1-loculed; placentas 2, parietal, projecting inward, seldom 2-loculed, abaxial locule sterile, or placenta 1, axile, projecting inward, 2-cleft. Stigma 1, abaxial, obtriangular to oblong, flabellate, obtrapeziform, or lamelliform, 2-lobed to undivided. Capsule straight, rarely oblique in relation to pedicel, linear to very narrowly ovoid, much surpassing calyx, dehiscing loculicidally to base, rarely only adaxial locule dehiscing; valves 2 or 4, straight, not twisted. Seeds unappendaged.[3] [more]
Coralia
Dierama
Diploclinium
Ewaldia
Fargesia
Fargesia is a of medium to small mountain clumping bamboos, found in alpine conifer forests of East Asia. They are known in Chinese as jian zhu (Chinese: ; pinyin: jianzhú), meaning "arrow bamboo". They can be found in China south to Vietnam and west to the eastern slopes of the Himalayas. There are currently about 90 recognised species, but morphological and genetic analysis has led to many being transferred to the genera Thamnocalamus, Yushania and Borinda, while others are still incertae sedis. The scientific name was given in honour of the French missionary and amateur botanist Père Paul Guillaume Farges. [more]
Felicia
A Genus in the Kingdom Plantae. [more]
Gaerdtia
Gireoudia
Gurltia
Haagea
Haworthia
Haworthia is a genus of flowering plants within the family . They are small (typically 20 cm high) solitary or clump-forming and endemic to South Africa. Bayer (1976) recognized 68 species, with 41 subspecies, varieties and forms. Some species have firm, tough leaves, usually dark green in color, whereas other are soft and semi-translucent. [more]
Hemizygia
Hillebrandia
Huszia
Knesebeckia
Lepsia
Leptospermum
Leptospermum is a genus of about 80-86 species of plants in the myrtle family . Most species are endemic to Australia, with the greatest diversity in the south of the continent; but one species extends to New Zealand, another to Malaysia, and L. recurvum is endemic to Malaysia. [more]
Meconopsis
Perennial, often prickly, simple or rarely branched, often tall and robust herbs with yellow latex. Leaves entire or lobed, radical stalked, cauline sessile or subsessile. Inflorescence solitary, racemed, pseudo-racemed or panicled. Flowers often large, showy, blue, yellow or purplish-red. Sepals 2(-4), usually caducous, valvate. Petals 4 (often varying from 5-10), free, obovate to broadly ovate. Stamens many, multiseriate; filament filiform; anthers often oblong. Carpels many, fused, superior, with unilocular, ellipsoid to subglobose ovary; ovules many on parietal placentae projecting into the ovary; style distinct, often short; stigma rays 5-6, radiating and forming a globular mass over the ovary. Capsule ovoid, oblong, clavate or cylindrical, 1-celled, dehiscing by short slits at the apex or sometimes splitting almost to the base of the fruit. Seeds many, small, rugose.[4] [more]
Mezierea
Moschkowitzia
Nassauvia
Nassauvia is a genus of in the Asteraceae family. It contains the following species: [more]
Neopaxia
Orthosiphon
Orthosiphon is a medicinal plant native to South East Asia and some parts of tropical Australia. It is an herbaceous shrub which grows to a height of 1.5 meters. Orthosiphon is a popular garden plant because of its unique flower, which is white and bluish with filaments resembling a cat's whiskers. In the wild, the plant can be seen growing in the forests and along roadsides. [more]
Parafestuca
Petermannia
Pilderia
Platycentrum
Pleione
Pleione may refer to [more]
Pritzelia
Trachymene is a of herbs in the family Apiaceae. The species are native to Australia, Malesia, New Caledonia and Fiji. [more]
Pterostyrax
Trees or shrubs, deciduous. Winter buds naked. Leaves alternate; stipules absent; leaf blade margin serrate or serrulate. Inflorescences pendulous, branches one-sided, many-flowered; bracteoles early deciduous. Pedicel short, jointed. Flowers bisexual. Calyx tube campanulate, 5-ribbed, completely adnate to ovary, 5-toothed. Corolla lobes 5, shortly coherent at base, imbricate. Stamens 10, 5 short and 5 long or subequal in length, 1 series; filaments flattened, basally connate into a membranous tube. Ovary mostly inferior, 3--5-locular; ovules 4 per locule, erect or pendulous, placentation axile. Style elongated, subulate; stigma capitate or obscurely 3-lobed. Fruiting pedicel short. Drupes dry, ribbed or winged, with a persistent style forming distinct beak, exocarp crusty, endocarp woody. Seeds 1 or 2, fleshy; endosperm thin.[5] [more]
Sassea
Scheidweileria
Semibegoniella
Stanhopea
Stanhopea ( ex Hook. 1829) is a genus of the orchid family (Orchidaceae) from Central and South America. The abbreviation used in horticultural trade is Stan. The genus is named for the 4th Earl of Stanhope (Philip Henry Stanhope) (1781-1855), president of the Medico-Botanical Society of London (1829-1837). These epiphytic, but occasionally terrestrial orchids can be found in damp forests from Mexico to NW Argentine. Their ovate pseudobulbs carry from the top one long, plicate, elliptic leaf. [more]
Steineria
Stemmacantha
Stibadotheca
Symbegonia
Tittelbachia
Trachelanthus
Trendelenburgia
Wageneria
At least 5 species and subspecies belong to the Genus Wageneria.
More info about the Genus Wageneria may be found here.
Bibliography
- Hwang Shu-mei in Wu Rong-fen (as Wu Young-fen) & Hwang Shu-mei, eds. 1987. Styracaceae. Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 60(2): 77-150.
- Ku Tsuechih. 1999. Begoniaceae. In: Ku Tsuechih, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 52(1): 126-269.
Footnotes
- Cuizhi Gu, Ching-I Peng & Nicholas J. Turland "Begoniaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 151, 153. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
- "Begonia". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 153. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
- "Chirita". in Flora of China Vol. 18 Page 311. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
- "Meconopsis". in Flora of Pakistan Page 22. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
- "Pterostyrax". in Flora of China Vol. 15 Page 267. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
Sources
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