Begonia cucullata Willd., Begoniaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: clubed begonia

French: bégonia, coeur de Jélsus

Spanish: flor de nácar

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Perennial herb, caulescent, stoloniferous, glabrous, 1-10 dm high.  Leaves slightly asymmetric, broadly ovate with the base truncate and usually inrolled, obtuse, palminerved, to 8 cm long, 7 cm wide, crenate-serrate, ciliate, petioles 25 mm long, stipules persistent, oblong, obtuse, 2-3 cm long.  Cymes axillary, few-flowered, peduncle 3-5 cm long.  Bracts persistent, ovate, serrulate, 5 mm long.  Pedicels slender.  Staminate tepals 4, 8-13 mm long, the outer ones suborbicular, the inner smaller and narrowly obovate.  Stamens free, numerous, filaments short, anthers linear.  Pistillate tepals 4-5, obovate.  Styles 3, 2-parted, the stigmatic tissue linear, spiral, continuous, placentae bilamellate.  Capsule 24-30 mm long, unequally 3-winged, the largest wing triangular, subacute, seeds acute in the typical variety" (Macbride, 1941; pp. 187-188).

Habitat/ecology:  (no habitat/ecology info known by PIER)

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay (GRIN). Peru (Cuzco: Prov. Convención) (Macbride, 1941; pp. 187-188).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (p. 25) Voucher cited: W.L. Wagner et al. 5941 (BISH, PTBG, US) Naturalized
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (p. 25) Voucher cited: D. Lorence et al. 5808 (BISH, MO, PTBG, US) Naturalized

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	MacDonald, I. A. W./Thebaud, C./Strahm, W. A./Strasberg, D. (1991) (pp. 51-61)
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	Lavergne, Christophe (2006) "Envahissant"

Additional information:  Additional online information about Begonia cucullata is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Begonia cucullata may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Lavergne, Christophe. 2006. List des especes exotiques envahissantes a La Reunion. Unpublished manuscript (Excel file). .

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. 1995. Contributions to the flora of Hawai‘i. III. New additions, range extensions, and rediscoveries of flowering plants. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 41:19-58.

MacDonald, I. A. W./Thebaud, C./Strahm, W. A./Strasberg, D. 1991. Effects of alien plant invasions on native vegetation remnants on La Reunion (Mascarenes Islands, Indian Ocean). Environmental Conservation 18 (1):51-61.

Macbride, J. Francis. 1936. Flora of Peru. Field Museum of Natural History, Botanical Series, Vol. XIII. 1936-1971, 6 parts.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. 2000. Survey of invasive or potentially invasive cultivated plants in Hawai‘i. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers No. 65. 35 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2005. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.