Sciency Thoughts: Begonias

Saturday, 29 June 2019

Begonia balangcodiae: A new species of Begonia from the Philippines.

Begonias, Begonia spp., are perennial flowering plants related to Gourds, found in tropical and subtropical forests around the world, and popular as houseplants. They are typically ground-dwelling understory Plants, though some species are epiphytes (live on other Plants, usually in the canopy of trees). Begonias are monoecious, with both male and female flowers occurring on a single plant, and may be upright-stemmed, rhizomatous or tuberous. The genus is one of the largest known genera of Flowering Plants, with over 1800 described species. These are found throughout the tropics, with two major centres of biodivesity, in South America and Southeast Asia. The Philippines falls within the Southeast Asian biodiversity hotspot, with about 120 described species.

In a paper published in the journal Phytotaxa on 26 June 2019, Shih-hui Liu and Yu-Hsin Tseng of the Research Museum and Herbarium at Academia Sinica, Diaiti Zure, also of the Research Museum and Herbarium and of the Biodiversity Program at Academia Sinica, and of the Department of Life Science at the National Taiwan Normal University, Rosario Rivera Rubite of the Department of Biology at the University of the Philippines Manila, Teodora Balangcod of the Department of Biology at the University of the Philippines Baguio, and Ching-I Peng and Kuo-Fang Chung, also of the Research Museum and Herbarium at Academia Sinica, describe a new species of Begonia from Luzon Island in the Philippines.

The new species is named Begonia balangcodiae, in honour of Teodora Balangcod, for her hospitality to the other members of the group during their stay at the University of the Philippines Baguio. The species is an erect herb reaching about a metre in height, with asymmetric, lance-shaped leaves with white spots, and white or greenish white flowers. The species was found growing on slopes in a mossy forest in Benguet Province.

Begonia balangcodiae. (A) Habitat and habit; (B) stem and petiole; (C) pistillate flowers; (D) staminate flower; (E) staminate flower and staminate flower bud; (F) inflorescence, and pistillate flower buds; (G) ovary and bracts; (H) habit. Scale bar is 5 mm. Liu et al. (2019).

Begonia medogensis: A new species of Begonia from Tibet and Myanmar.

Begonia, Begonia spp., are perennial flowering plants related to Gourds, found in tropical and subtropical forests around the world, and popular as houseplants. They are typically ground-dwelling understory Plants, though some species are epiphytes (live on other Plants, usually in the canopy of trees). Begonias are monoecious, with both male and female flowers occurring on a single plant, and may be upright-stemmed, rhizomatous or tuberous.

In a paper published in the journal PhytoKeys on 2 July 2018, Jian-Wu Li of the Center for Integrative Conservation at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Yun-Hong Tan, also of the Center for Integrative Conservation at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, and of the South Asia Biodiversity Research Institute of thr Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi-Long Wang of the Tibet Plateau Institute of Biology, Cheng-Wang Wang of the School of Life Sciences at Nanchang University, and Xiao-Hua Jin of the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, describe a new species of Begonia from Medog County in Tibet and the Putao District of Kachin State in Myanmar.

The new species is named Begonia medogensis, meaning 'from Medog', as it was first identified in a subtropical semi-evergreen forest in Medog County, Tibet, and later found in a tropical montane forest in the Putao District of Kachin State in Myanmar. It is an erect rhizomatous perennial herb reaching up to a metre in height, with hairy, oval-to-lance-shaped leaves growing directly from the stems. It produces bracts of flowers from October to December, each of which bears 1-5 pink and white flowers, all of the same sex.