Miss Wax Begonia and the Wolves

Begonia cucullata

I have a giant ballerina pink wax begonia right outside my front door.  It's huge with no help from me other than a little fertilizer and water.  My PictureThis app tells me that according to legend, a girl named Begonia died at the paws of hungry wolves (although wolves rarely attack/eat/kill humans) in order to save her father.  When the villagers brought her back to her village, her blood spilled along the way.  Later the bloody path was covered in mountain flowers.  The villagers named these flowers after the girl.  A less magical story tells that a Franciscan monk, Charlies Plumier, documented the first begonia that he found in Brazil (or the Dominican Republic - love the internet) while searching for medicinal plants, and then named it after his favorite botanist, Michel Begon.  Begon was the governor of the French colony of Haiti.  Whatever story is true, perhaps both, I marvel at this close-up view.  Forever more will look at these happy little blossoms, with spiky yellow stamen centers that looks like a bunch of ripe bananas, and remember the story of Miss Begonia and the wolves.