Begonia beddomei Hook.

Camfield, Rebecca & Hughes, Mark, 2018, A revision and one new species of Begonia L. (Begoniaceae, Cucurbitales) in Northeast India, European Journal of Taxonomy 396, pp. 1-116 : 21-23

Begonia beddomei Hook. f. [sect. Platycentrum ]

Figs 12–13

Botanical Magazine 110: tab. 6767 ( Hooker 1884). – Type: Cultivated collection, 4 Dec. 1883, Beddome s.n. (holo-: K000761469). Cultivated from vegetative material collected in the wild from Assam, India by Gustav Mann.

Citations in other publications

Fischer (1938: 98), Kumar (2002: 643), Uddin (2007: 593).

Other material examined

INDIA: Assam: Cultivated collection, Aug. 1883, Beddome s.n. ( K), cultivated from wild material collected by Gustav Mann from Assam; Jorhat, Hoolong ‘Melling’ Forest Reserve, Dec. 1972, Yandell 213 ( K) [aff. B. beddomei ]. Mizoram: Lushai Hills, Aijal, Sep. 1929, Parry 252 ( K); Lushai Hills, Ramlaitui, Nov. 1927, Parry 306 ( K); ibid., Oct. 1927, Parry 306 ( K, CAL n.v.).

Description

Tuberous, monoecious herb, 15–30 cm high. Stipules: lanceolate, 9–11 × 3–4 mm, glabrous, deciduous. Leaves: petiole 7–16 cm long, puberulous; lamina broadly ovate, basifixed, base cordate with lobes not overlapping, 10–22 × 8–15 cm, asymmetric, upper surface green with white/silvery spots, glabrous, underside red-purple, sparsely pubescent, denser on veins, venation palmate, midrib 8–15 cm long; margin broadly dentate with fine serration, with sparse hairs; apex acute. Inflorescence: cymose, terminal, few; peduncle glabrous, branching 2–3 times, primary 12–16 cm, secondary 2–3 cm, tertiary 2–3 mm, with 1– 2 female and 4– 8 male flowers; bracts lanceolate, 16–18 × 4–5 mm, glabrous. Male flower: pedicel 11–25 mm long, glabrous; tepals 4; outer tepals ovate to broad ovate, 15–21 × 7–10 mm, pink to pale pink, sparsely pilose on reverse, margin entire; inner tepals elliptic, 10–15 × 4–7 mm, pink to pale pink, glabrous; androecium with 80–100 stamens, symmetric; filaments 1–2 mm long, unequal, fused at base into a long column; anther oblong elliptic, 1 mm long, dehiscing through slits longer than half the length of the anther, not hooded, connective extended. Female flower: pedicel 12–25 mm long, glabrous; bracteoles absent; tepals 8, oblong elliptic, pink; ovary 2-locular, placentae bifid, capsule obovoid, glabrous, with one long oblong wing and two short oblong wings; styles 3, convoluted with twisted ends, caduceus. Fruit: recurved; capsule ovate-triangular, 9–11 × 4–6 mm, glabrous; wings extending along the pedicel slightly, unequal; longest rounded oblong, 20–23 × 11–12 mm; shortest oblong, 2 × 12 mm.

Distribution and phenology

Possibly endemic to the Lushai Hills of Mizoram; 900–1200 m. Flowering: August to September; fruiting: October.

Conservation status

Data Deficient. The species is known only from very few collections and none of them are recent. It is possibly Vulnerable to Endangered as the Khasi Hills have areas of extensive deforestation and without an exact locality for the type and lack of recent collections it is difficult to assess accurately. The species was recorded at Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary in Assam (Yandell 213).

Remarks

Begonia beddomei is known from only a few collections; the specimens seen lacked female flowers and the description for these is based on the protologue. This species is quite distinct amongst other members of Begonia sect. Platycentrum in having female flowers with 8 tepals and 3 styles, and a tuberous rather than rhizomatous habit.

Living material was collected by Gustav Mann in Assam and sent to Colonel Beddome, who grew the plants for the voucher specimens used by Hooker to describe the species. Mann did the majority of his collecting from the Khasi/Jaintia Hills of what is today Meghalaya into the Cachar Hills of Assam, making this the likely type locality.