Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Begonia maxima hort. ex A. DC.

Habit:  herb

Description:  "[A] robust species with flowering scapes that attain one meter in height, standing taller than the leaves.  Plants have a fleshy rhizome up to 20 cm tall and 3 cm thick that produces leaves with petioles 25-40 cm tall, obliquely cordate blades 15-30 cm long and 7.5-23 cm wide, deep dull green above, paler on the underside, the margins scalloped to shallowly lobed.  Inflorescences are leafless, taller than the foliage, and bear forked clusters of white to pale pinkish flowers about 1.3 cm in diameter, with 2 tepals that are hairy outside.  The male flowers have ± circular tepals and a mass of stamens in the center; female flowers have a hairy ovary with 3 unequal, ciliate wings" (Miller, 2003; p. 22).

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

Propagation:  Seed, probably dispersed by wind (Miller, 2003; p. 22).

Native range:  Southern Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras (GRIN).

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	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Miller, Scott E./Staples, George W. (2003) (pp. 22-23) Vouchers cited: T. Flynn & M. Bergau 1558 (BISH, PTBG), L. Hume & T. Flynn 478 (BISH, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Miller, Scott E./Staples, George W. (2003) (pp. 22-23) Vouchers cited: S. Miller 11 (BISH), A. F. Judd, E. H. Bryan Jr., & M. Neal s.n. (BISH 42874), D. Afualo s.n. (BISH 580134)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)

Additional information:
Photo and other information from "The Begonia of Estado Veracruz, Mexico".

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

Information about Begonia fusca as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

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

References:

Miller, Scott E./Staples, George W. 2003. Begonia fusca (Begoniaceae), a new naturalized species for Hawai‘i. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2001-2002. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 74:22-23.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.