Begonia subcoriacea
Begonia subcoriacea
| Species | subcoriacea |
|---|---|
| Region | China (Guangxi Zhuangzu Autonomous Region, Daxin Xian) |
| Country | |
| Year published | N/A |
| Date of Origin | N/A |
| Plant Type | Epipetric Perennial |
| Section | |
| Chr 2n | 30 |
Species Information
Description
- **Growth Habit:** Monoecious, epipetric, perennial, and rhizomatous. - **Rhizome:** Rather stout, 5-15 cm long, and 0.6-1.2 cm thick, with brown color, villous when young, and glabrate when old. - **Stipules:** Triangular-ovate or narrowly so, 1-2 cm long, and 0.8-1.4 cm wide, brownish, herbaceous, keeled or weakly so, with abaxial hairs, ciliate or ciliolate margin, and an arista of 3-4 mm. - **Leaves:** Alternate, simple, asymmetric, unlobed, widely ovate or suborbicular, with a strongly oblique cordate base and an inconspicuously irregularly repandly denticulate and ciliolate margin. The apex is shortly acuminate, and leaves measure (10-)12-20(-22) cm long (including basal lobes) and (8-)10-14(-17) cm wide. Adaxially, they are green and may have white maculation between major veins. Abaxially, they are pale green, yellowish green, or reddish, especially near major veins. The leaves are subcoriaceous, flat, adaxially glabrous, and abaxially tomentose on major veins and sparsely pilose on tertiary venation. - **Venation:** Basally 6-7-palmate with a distinct midrib and 1-3 major lateral veins on each side. Other primary veins dichotomously branch or nearly so, and tertiary veins are reticulate or percurrent. Minor veins are reticulate, with major (1° & 2°) veins on the abaxial surface prominently raised. - **Petiole:** Terete, 9-20 cm long, 3-7.5 mm thick, greenish or brownish, tomentose. - **Inflorescences:** Axillary, 1-6 in number, arising directly from the rhizome. They are diffusely cymose, branched 3-7 times. - **Flower Characteristics:** Staminate flowers number 20-60, while carpellate flowers number 10-32. Peduncles are well-developed and red, with reddish glandulose-pilose trichomes. - **Fruits:** Dehiscent capsules that are nodding and red when fresh. They measure 6.5-11 mm long and 5-6 mm wide (wings excluded). Lateral wings are 2-3 mm wide, and the abaxial wing is crescent-shaped or triangular, 2.5-5 mm high. - **Seeds:** Numerous, brown, ellipsoid, or ovoid-ellipsoid, measuring about 0.4-0.5 mm long and 0.27-0.3 mm across, with chalazal end rounded and micropylar end obtuse. Outer periclinal walls of mature seeds are concave, and collar cells are elongated and nearly rectangular.
Distribution
Begonia subcoriacea is very rare and known only from a limestone hill in southwestern Guangxi, China.
Etymology
The specific epithet "subcoriacea" indicates subleathery leaves.
Notes
Begonia subcoriacea shares similarities with B. liuyanii but differs in various characteristics, including smaller habit, adaxially glabrous leaves, tomentose abaxial leaves on major veins only, flat tertiary leaf venation, and outer tepals that are glabrous or subglabrous. The inflorescence is also dichasial cymose.
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