| Original Botanical Description or Link to | Begonia aurora C.I Peng, Yan Liu & W.B.Xu, sp. nov.
(Sect. Platycentrum) 極光秋海棠 (Figs. 3 and 4).
Type: CHINA. Guangxi, Fangchenggang City,
Fangcheng District, Nasuo Town, 21°41’39.6”N,
108°05’39.3”E, elev. 65 m, at base of a north-facing slope
beside a streamlet, fruiting and fowering, 18 April, 2016,
Ching-I Peng 24765 with Kuo-Fang Chung, Wei-Bin Xu,
Chia-Lun Hsieh (holotype: IBK; isotypes: E, HAST144966, K, KUN, PE).
Monoecious rhizomatous herb. Rhizomes creeping,
to 10 cm or longer, 5−10 mm in diameter, internodes
congested, up to 8 mm long, light green, densely villous. Stipules persistent, pale green, ovate, ca. 15 mm
long, 6–7 mm wide, herbaceous, strongly keeled, densely
velutinous along midrib abaxially, margin entire, apex
aristate, arista ca. 7 mm long. Leaves alternate; petiole terete, pale green, 5−15 cm long, 3–5 mm thick,
densely white villous; leaf blade asymmetric, oblique,
widely ovate, 6−17 cm long, 4–12 cm wide, broader
side 2.5–8.5 cm wide, basal lobes cordate, 1.8–6 cm
long, apex acuminate, margin denticulate and densely
white villous; leaves chartaceous, adaxially deep green
to dark viridian, often embellished with lime green zone
around midrib; venation reddish and impressed, densely
covered by small raised cones between veins, giving
the lamina a rugose appearance, each cone topped by a
single white villous hair ca. 1.5 mm long; abaxially purplish red (rarely green), sometimes with a pale green
zone along midrib, white villous on all veins; venation
palmate, midrib distinct, with ca. 3 secondary veins on
each side, tertiary veins reddish, percurrent or reticulate.
Inforescences bisexual, axillary, dichasial cymes arising directly from rhizome, branched 2–4 times; peduncle pale green, 3–10 cm long, pilose; bracts pale green to
pinkish, hyaline, thin chartaceous, those at basal node
of inforescence ovate, 1–1.8 cm long, 4–5 mm wide,
margin entire; bracts at summit of inforescence similar
but smaller. Staminate fowers: pedicel 7–17 mm long,
sparsely pilose, tepals 4, white, outer 2 widely obovate to
suborbicular, 10–15 mm long, 10–12 mm wide, abaxially
pilose, inner 2 elliptic to oblanceolate, ca. 11 mm long,
6 mm wide, apex obtuse to rounded; androecium actinomorphic, ca. 5 mm across; stamens yellow, ca. 90; flaments fused on a short stalk; anthers obovate, ca. 2 mm
long, 2-locular, apex rounded, subequal to flaments. Pistillate fowers: pedicel ca. 11 mm long, sparsely pilose;
tepals 5, white, ovate, 6–12 mm long, 6–9 mm wide, apex
obtuse or rounded, outer 3 abaxially pilose; ovary pale
green, body trigonous-ellipsoid, ca. 9 mm long, 3 mm
thick (wings excluded), pilose; 3-winged, wings unequal,
abaxial wing triangular or crescent-shaped, margin
entire, ca. 3 mm high, apex rounded or slightly pointed at summit; 3-locular, placentation axile, bilamellate; styles 3,
shortly fused at base, yellow, ca. 3.5 mm long, stigma spirally twisted. Capsules pendent, pedicel 10–16 mm long, tepals deciduous; body trigonous-ellipsoid, 8–12 mm
long, 5–6 mm thick (wings excluded), greenish when fresh; abaxial wing 4–6 mm high, lateral wings 3–4 mm
high.
Distribution and ecology
Begonia aurora is known only from the type locality
where less than 50 plants were seen. Plants grow on a slope of a shaded gully in a mixed forest of broadleaved
woods and bamboo plantation.
Phenology
Flowering from March to April, fruiting from April to
June. Etymology
Te species epithet refers to the lighter green patch
around the midrib of the leaves resembling aurora, the
polar lights. |
