WILD BEGONIA
File Size: 108 KB
 
Rumex venosus  Pursh
Seward County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 6-14 inches
Family: Polygonaceae - Buckweat Family
Flowering Period:   April, May, June, July
Stems: Erect or decumbent at base, 1 to many, stout, often branching, glabrous, often reddish.
Leaves: Alternate, simple; stalks shorter than blades; blades variable, flat, thick, leathery, ovate to oblong or lanceolate, 1.6 to 4.8 inches long, 1/5 to 2 inches wide, mid-vein prominent; margins entire; tips pointed; conspicuous stipules clasp stem at bases of leaves.
Inflorescences: Racemes, panicle-like, unbranched or with few branches.
Flowers: Flowers tiny, not crowded, small in flower, showy in fruit; flower stalks in fruit slender, to 4/5 inch long, joint near middle; perianth segments 6, in 2 whorls of 3, united basally, more or less alike at flowering; outer whorl turned downward in fruit; inner whorl enlarging in fruit, conspicuously winged; wings .8 to 1.8 inches broad, circular, showy, pink or red; margins entire; tips notched to heart-shaped.
Fruits: Achene, 3-angled, 1/5 to 1/4 inch long, light brown, enveloped by wings
Habitat: Prairie dunes, riverbanks and roadsides; sandy soil.
Distribution: West 4/5 of Kansas.
Comments: Wild begonia is no relation to cultivated begonias.
 See pale dock or curly dock.

Wild begonia inflorescence
77 KB
Seward County, Kansas
Wild begonia
127 KB
Seward County, Kansas
Wild begonia inflorescence
91 KB
Seward County, Kansas
Wild begonia perianth segments
71 KB
Seward County, Kansas
Wild begonia leaves
79 KB
Seward County, Kansas
Wild begonia stem
50 KB
Seward County, Kansas
Wild begonia
143 KB
Finney County, Kansas
Wild begonia
101 KB
Finney County, Kansas