BEGONIACEAE

the begonia family of flowering plants. There is debate among botanists about the classification of this family: some assign it to the order Violales; others place it in its own order, Begoniales, along with the family Datiscaceae. The Begoniaceae consists of two genera: Begonia, with some 900 species, and Hillebrandia, with one species. The family is distributed throughout most tropical and warm temperate regions, with a large percentage of species being native to the Americas. Hillebrandia is endemic to Hawaii. A majority of species are perennial herbs, some climbing, with succulent stems and thick rhizomes or tubers; some species are shrubs. The leaves are usually simple (i.e., single-bladed) but may be compound (composed of several leaflets); they are commonly asymmetrical, with one side much larger than the other. Most species are monoecious, with flowers of both sexes developing on the same plant; the flowers are unisexual. Male flowers have two petallike sepals, two petals, and numerous stamens. Female flowers have two to several perianth parts and one pistil, with an inferior ovary, often winged. The fruits are usually capsules containing numerous minute seeds. Many species and hybrids of Begonia are cultivated as ornamentals; otherwise the family has little economic importance.