Begonia pearcei (Begonia pearcei)
Description
Begonia pearcei is a plant in the begonia family, Begoniaceae. It was introduced to Europe in 1864 by Richard Pearce (after whom it was named) who discovered it in the Bolivian Andes and is important in the hybridising of the Begonia tuberhybrida begonias, the first of which appeared in 1867. With 1,839 species, Begonia is the fifth-largest angiosperm genus.The species are terrestrial (sometimes epiphytic) herbs or undershrubs, and occur in subtropical and tropical moist climates, in South and Central America, Africa, and southern Asia. Terrestrial species in the wild are commonly upright-stemmed, rhizomatous, or tuberous. The plants are monoecious, with unisexual male and female flowers occurring separately on the same plant; the male contains numerous stamens, and the female has a large inferior ovary and two to four branched or twisted stigmas. In most species, the fruit is a winged capsule containing numerous minute seeds, although baccate fruits are also known. The leaves, which are often large and variously marked or variegated, are usually asymmetric (unequal-sided).
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Cucurbitales
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Family: Begoniaceae
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Genus: Begonia
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