1.8. Begonia pearcei Hook.f., Bot. Mag. 91, t. 5545 (1865). – Type: Royal Botanic Gardens

Kew, ex. Veitch & Sons Nursery, from a collection made in La Paz by Pearce, x 1865, Unknown s.n. (lectotype K [K000252027] designated in: Phytotaxa 407(1): 113 (2019) by Tebbitt, M. C.) .

L.B. Smith & B.G. Schubert, Revista Univ. (Cuzco) 33(87): 78 (1944); R.C. Foster, Contr. Gray Herb. 184: 138 (1958); D.C. Wasshausen et al. in P.M. JØrgensen et al. (eds), Cat. Bolivia, Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 129: 385 (2013); M.C. Tebbitt, Tuberous Begonias, a Monograph of Begonia sect. Australes 107 (2020).

Distribution. Endemic to Bolivia.

Identification notes. Begonia pearcei is distinguished as a tuberous, caulescent herb with spreading yellow tepals and a white, non-glandular indument. It is most similar to Begonia heliantha and B. chrysantha, which are both also tuberous, caulescent species with transversely ovate leaves and yellow flowers. It differs from Begonia heliantha in its non-glandular indumentum, and from B. chrysantha in its white indumentum (vs red hairs with a white apex; Tebbitt, 2020).