Begonia sect. Gobenia A.DC.

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 : 180

Begonia sect. Gobenia A.DC.

Annales des Sciences Naturelles Botanique, Série 4 11: 133 ( de Candolle 1859).

– Type: lectotype: Begonia maurandiae A.DC. , designated by Barkley & Baranov (1972: 4).

Notes

This is a morphologically homogeneous and monophyletic section of herbaceous vines found from central Peru to Colombia ( Doorenbos et al. 1998; Moonlight et al. 2018; Tebbitt & Pérez in press). All species are terrestrial climbers or epiphytes that root at the nodes. They also have a series of unusual floral characters, including their short styles with thickened branches, their pistillate flowers with two or four bracteoles, and their unusually showy androecium.

In Peru, Begonia sect. Gobenia is represented by two species, which are easily identified to section as the only peltate leaved climbers in the country. Our species circumscriptions follow those of an inedited monograph of the section by Mark Tebbitt and Alvaro Peréz (Tebbitt & Pérez in press). While our circumscription of B. hitchcockii differs from previously published circumscriptions (e.g., Smith & Wasshausen 1986), we therefore claim no credit for the taxonomic insights that led to these changes.