Begonia mekonggensis Girm. & Wiriad.

Ardi, Wisnu H., Chikmawati, Tatik, Witono, Joko R. & Thomas, Daniel C., 2018, A synopsis of Begonia (Begoniaceae) of Southeastern Sulawesi including four new species, Phytotaxa 381 (1), pp. 27-50 : 42-43

8. Begonia mekonggensis Girm. & Wiriad. in Girmansyah et al. (2009: 36) ( Figures 1 & 9 )

Sect. Petermannia

Type:— INDONESIA. Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi: North Kolaka Regency, Ranteangin District, Tinukari Village , Gunung Mekongga , 18 March 2006, D. Girmansyah 579 (holotype BO!; isotypes E!, K!, L, US).

Distribution:— Indonesia; endemic to Sulawesi, so far only known from three localities (Gunung Mekongga, Mangkutana-Pendolo divide and Rantepao-Palopo divide).

Habitat:— Secondary forest, at ca. 700–800 m altitude.

Notes:— Begonia mekonggensis is one of several putatively dioecious species which are found in Sulawesi: B. guttapila D.C.Thomas & Ardi in Thomas et al. (2009: 234), B. rantemarioensis D.C.Thomas & Ardi in Thomas et al. (2011: 240), B. sanguineopilosa D.C.Thomas & Ardi in Thomas et al. (2011: 243), and B. torajana D.C.Thomas & Ardi in Thomas et al. (2011: 246). A comparison of the salient features of Begonia mekonggensis with allied species is shown in Table 2.

Provisional IUCN conservation assessment:— Endangered EN B2ab(iii). Begonia mekongensis is known from only a few localities including lowland rainforest in the Mangkutana-Pendolo devide and upland rainforest on Gunung Mekongga, which lie about 180 km apart. The collections from Mangkutana-Pendolo are from the periphery of a legally protected area, the Faruhumpena Forest Reserve. The small EOO (7,168 km 2) and AOO (28 km 2) in combination with only few collection localities warrant an Endangered (EN) status.

Additional specimens examined:— INDONESIA. Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi: North Kolaka, Ranteangin District, Tinukari Village , 03 Aug. 2009, Agus Rinai et al. AR 012 ( BO) ; North Kolaka, Ranteangin District, Tinukari Village , 07 Aug. 2009, A. Hidayat et al. AH 4187 ( BO) ; North Kolaka , 19 Mar. 2006, H. Wiriadinata et al. 588 ( BO) ; North Kolaka, Ranteangin District, Tinukari Village , 29 June 2011, E.A. Widjaja EAW 9693 ( BO) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distribution map.A. Overview of Sulawesi. B. Distributions of B. aptera, B. johntania, B. mekonggensis, and B. ozotothrix.C. Distributions of B. balgooyi, B.flacca, B. matarombeoensis, and B. watuwilensis. D. Distributions of B.incudiformicarpa, B. iskandariana, and B. tumburanoensis. Specimen location information was georeferenced using the GeoNames geographical database at http://www. geonames.org/.

FIGURE 9. Begonia mekonggensis. A. Habit, female plant; scale bar: 15 cm. B. Stipule; scale bar: 10 mm. C. Female inflorescences; scale bar 5 cm. D. Female flowers, front view; scale bar: 10 mm. E. Ovary, cross-section of middle part; scale bar: 3 mm. F. Habit, anthocyanrich form, male plant; scale bar: 10 cm. G. Male inflorescence; scale bar: 10 mm. Inset: male flower; scale bar: 10 mm. A–E from DCT 09-108; F–G from DCT 09-111 (Photos: D.C.Thomas).