Begonia cantareira

Kollmann, Ludovic Jean Charles, 2023, NOVELTIES IN BRAZILIAN BEGONIACEAE VI: Taxonomic notes, Phytotaxa 587 (1), pp. 66-70 : 68

1. Begonia cantareira hort. nom. nud.

Notes:— Begonia cantareira is a name used by the American Begonian Society ( USA) for a species from Brazil imported into cultivation from seeds. The name was first printed in The Begonian ( Carrell, 1950) without description so it is an invalid name, as cited in the Flora do Brasil ( Jacques & Gregório 2020). Later publications in The Begonian (Carrel 1951 & 1952) state that Begonia cantareira could be B. acetosa Vell. (1831, pl.50). However the name B. acetosa is missapplied and B. cantareira actually refers to B. itaguassuensis Brade (1948: 234) ( Golding, 1989) . In the protologue for B. acetosa Vellozo (1831, pl.50) states that B. acetosa has 1.8 m stems (caule orgyali) and could be not a rhizomatous species, as is B. cantareira .

All specimens of Begonia itaguassuensis collected in Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo and Bahia state have leaves which are green below. Cultivated plants of this species with leaves which are red/wine-coloured below were given the unidentified species registration number of U254 by the American Begonia Society, based on material collected by Mulford B. Foster in Brazil and named (incorrectly) by L.B.Smith as Begonia acetosa Vell. ( Foster, 1946) . Golding (1989) wrote that this material was collected by Foster in Brazil in 1946, however although the article by Foster was published that year ( Foster, 1946) he did not collect in Brazil in 1946. Probably Foster collected material of this plant in 1939 or 1940 when he travelled in Espirito Santo state (Rede Specieslink). Plants of Begonia itaguassuensis with red/wine coloured leaves were not found in the wild until the author found discovered them in Vitoria region, Espìrito Santo state, a place that Foster visited. Begonia cantareira refers to Begonia itaguassuensis Brade.