Begonia

Begonia
   Michel Begon (1638-1710) was appointed commissioner for Santo Domingo by Louis XIV after Begon married Jeanne-Elisabeth de Beauharnais, sister of Marquis de Beauharnais, governor-general of New France. Although the is some dispute as to the nature of Bégon's duties, some historians believe that he served for a while as governor of Santo Domingo. Begon was an enthusiastic amateur botanist. He organized a detailed study of the plant life on the island and collected many specimens. One tropical plant that he collected was a genus of a flowering succulent herb with ornamental leaves and clusters of showy flowers of various colors. Begon took the plant back with him to France and introduced it to botanists and horticulturists. Ever since, the begonia has been widely planted in gardens because it prefers shade. It is also a popular house plant, cultivated for its variety of blooms or for its foliage. The plant was named for Michel Begon by a French botanist, Charles Plumier, when it was first brought to England, sixty-seven years after Begon's death. The name given the plant, appropriately, was begonia.

Dictionary of eponyms. . 2013.

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  • Begonia — Bégonia Bégonias …   Wikipédia en Français

  • bégonia — [ begɔnja ] n. m. • 1706; de Bégon, nom d un intendant de Saint Domingue ♦ Plante d Amérique tropicale (bégoniacées), ornementale, cultivée pour ses fleurs. Bégonia tubéreux. Bégonia rose. Bégonia double, à fleurs doubles. ♢ Loc. fam. Charrier… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Begonia — ist: der wissenschaftliche Name der Pflanzengattung der Begonien ein im Jahr 1920 von Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth entdeckter Asteroid, siehe (943) Begonia Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unterscheidung mehrerer mit demse …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • begonia — 1751, from Fr. begonia (1706), named by Plumier for Michel Bégon (1638 1710), French governor of Santo Domingo (Haiti) and patron of botany …   Etymology dictionary

  • begônia — s. f. [Botânica] Planta originária das regiões quentes, cultivada pela sua folhagem decorativa e pelas suas flores vivamente coloridas.   ♦ Grafia em Portugal: begónia …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

  • begónia — s. f. [Botânica] Planta originária das regiões quentes, cultivada pela sua folhagem decorativa e pelas suas flores vivamente coloridas.   ♦ Grafia no Brasil: begônia …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

  • begonia — sustantivo femenino 1. Género Begonia. Planta perenne, de grandes hojas en forma de corazón y flores pequeñas de colores vistosos que se utiliza como planta de adorno. 2. Flor de esta planta: Las begonias no me gustan tanto como a ti …   Diccionario Salamanca de la Lengua Española

  • begonia — (Del fr. bégonia). f. Planta perenne, originaria de América, de la familia de las Begoniáceas, de unos cuatro decímetros de altura, con tallos carnosos, hojas grandes, acorazonadas, dentadas, de color verde bronceado por encima, rojizas y con… …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • begonia — [bi gōn′yə] adj. [ModL, after M. Bégon (1638 1710), Fr governor of Santo Domingo & a patron of science] designating a family (Begoniaceae, order Violales) of dicotyledonous tropical plants n. any of a genus (Begonia) of plants of this family,… …   English World dictionary

  • Begonia — Be*go ni*a (b[ e]*g[=o] n[i^]*[.a]), n. [From Michel Begon, a promoter of botany.] (Bot.) A genus of plants, mostly of tropical America, many species of which are grown as ornamental plants. The leaves are curiously one sided, and often exhibit… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Begonĭa — (B. L., Schiefblatt, wegen der rothen Adern der Blätter auch Lebensbaum genannt), Pflanzengattung, welche die Familie der Begoniaeêen (s.d.) bildet, zur Monocle Polyandrie L. Von Plumier nach Michael Begon, Intendanten auf S. Domingo benannt.… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

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