Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

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

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Herbaceous, to 15 dm. high; rhizome procumbent or oblique, 15-40 mm. thick, setose, with very short internodes or sometimes only about 5 mm. thick and with distinct internodes; stipules deciduous, broadly ovate, subacuminate, pilose at first, serrate-setose or entire; petioles erect, 2-4 dm. long, densely retrorse-pilosulous; blades oblique, very broadly ovate or suborbicular, abruptly acuminate, often with several superficial acuminate lobes beside the apex, cordate, up to 6 dm. long, palmately 7-9-nerved, angulate-dentate, ciliate-serrate, thin, finely pubescent on both sides; peduncle exceeding the leaves, to 6 dm. long, 5-10 mm. thick, pilosulous at first; cyme regular, much branched, 2-5 dm. long, pubescent; bracts deciduous, suborbicular, pubescent, the upper ones entire, thin, the lower ones over 4 cm. long, sometimes serrulate; pedicels slender, 1-4 cm. long, pubescent; staminate tepals 2, broadly ovate or suborbicular, subacute or obtuse, 6-11 mm. long, fleshy, sparsely pilose, pink or white; stamens numerous, filaments shorter than the oblong anthers, connective produced into a broad flat cap above the anther; pistillate tepals 2 or sometimes a third and much smaller one inside the others, like the staminate but much smaller; ovary 3-celled, placentae bifid, ovuliferous throughout, styles deciduous, slightly connate at base, bifid, the stigmatic surface linear, spiral, continuous; capsule more or less nutant, broadly ovoid, pubescent at first, 8-12 mm. long, wings very unequal, the largest dolabriform or subovate, 25-30 mm. broad"  (Standley & Williams, 1961; 7/1 pp. 1667-168).

"[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:  In Guatemala (native), "epiphytic or terrestrial on shady slopes, 1,300-2,500 meters"  (Standley & Williams, 1961; 7/1 pp. 1667-168).

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	Standley, Paul C./Williams, Louis Otho (1961)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	Standley, Paul C./Williams, Louis Otho (1961)

Additional information:
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.

Standley, Paul C./Williams, Louis Otho. 1961. Flora of Guatemala. Fieldiana: Botany. Vol. 24, Part VII, No. 1. Chicago Natural History Museum. 185 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.