plant genus
After the French diplomat Michel Bégon (1638 – 1710).
Bégon was related to the wife of Colbert, the most powerful minister of Louis XIV, so that he could build a rich political career.
His name has been preserved in a flower because he spent two years (1682-1684) as French governor on Santo Domingo and not only built up a huge library and a collection of Egyptian antiquities, but also collected rare plants.
The botanist Charles Plumier (1646-1706) had met him on his journey around the world and named one of the many new plants after him.
> (see also fuchsia and lobelia)
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