Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

WILD BEGONIA

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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