Begonia cucullata Willd.

Moonlight, Peter. W., Jara-Muñoz, Orlando A., Purvis, David A., Delves, Jay, Allen, Josh P. & Reynel, Carlos, 2023, The genus Begonia (Begoniaceae) in Peru, European Journal of Taxonomy 881, pp. 1-334 : 304

Begonia cucullata Willd.

Species plantarum 4: 414 ( Willdenow 1805).

– Type: BRAZIL • coll. unknown s.n.; holotype: B-W [17567, n.v.].

de Candolle (1864: 291); Smith & Schubert (1941a: 187, 1946b: 99); Golding (1982: 330); Brako & Zarucchi (1993: 191).

Specimens examined

PERU – Lima Region: Prov. Lima • Jul. 1922, C.O. Ridoutt s.n.; USM [2]. – Cusco Region: Prov. Calca • Amparaes, centre of the town ; 3300–3400 m a.s.l.; P. Núñez 6765; MO [ MO-1642974 ].

Notes

A widely distributed species with two large, disjunct populations. The first of these covers Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina and the second covers much of Central America and northwest South America. Begonia cucullata Willd. is widely cultivated as an ornamental and is an important parent of the ‘wax Begonia’ group of cultivars. Lyman B. Smith and Bernice G. Schubert included B. cucullata in their 1941 account for the Flora of Peru ( Smith & Schubert 1941a) based upon a single specimen from La Convención Province, Cusco Region (Vargas 739). We have not seen this specimen and the two specimens of B. cucullata we have seen were collected in the centre of large towns. Begonia cucullata does not appear to be widely naturalised in Peru, so we exclude it from this account.