The begoniaceae of colombia

Abstract

There has been no systematic treatment covering the Begorniaceae fo Colombia since A. De Candolle's world-monograph in the Prodromus in 1864, so it was to be expected that subsequent collections would yield some novelties. However, after studying the Begoniaceae of Argentina, Peru, Bolivia (**) and Guatemala in detail, we were quite unprepared for the rich development of the family in Colombia, where a third of the species proved to be new and well over half of them endemic. Undoubtedly these results are attributable to the complex mountain system and we can expect many more novelties as collectors go to new valleys and river-basins. In fact an analysis of the distribution of species by the twenty-three Departments and territories of Colombia shows that only twelve Departments are represented by the twenty new species and four are not represented at all.

There has been no systematic treatment covering the Begorniaceae fo Colombia since A. De Candolle's world-monograph in the Prodromus in 1864, so it was to be expected that subsequent collections would yield some novelties. However, after studying the Begoniaceae of Argentina, Peru, Bolivia (**) and Guatemala in detail, we were quite unprepared for the rich development of the family in Colombia, where a third of the species proved to be new and well over half of them endemic. Undoubtedly these results are attributable to the complex mountain system and we can expect many more novelties as collectors go to new valleys and river-basins. In fact an analysis of the distribution of species by the twenty-three Departments and territories of Colombia shows that only twelve Departments are represented by the twenty new species and four are not represented at all.