Begonia mamapachensis Jara, 2021

Jara-Muñoz, Orlando Adolfo, Richardson, James E. & Zabala-Rivera, Juan Carlos, 2021, Five new species and three new varieties of Begonia section Casparya endemic to Colombia, Phytotaxa 525 (4), pp. 258-280 : 268

Begonia mamapachensis Jara , sp. nov. Figs. 4 & 5

Type:— COLOMBIA. Boyacá: Municipio de Garagoa , cerro Mamapacha, reserva natural El Secreto, 5.1452°N, 73.2871°W, 2200–2300 m, 20 March 2014, A . Jara 2725 (holotype JBB!, isotype ANDES!) .

Diagnosis:— Begonia mamapachensis is morphologically similar to Begonia cornuta , Begonia vinagrera , and Begonia galeanoi , but can be distinguished from them by having lanceolate leaves (vs. ovate or oblong), and a monochasial inflorescence with few flowers (vs. dichasial with many flowers).

Description:—Caulescent herb, to 40 cm high. Stem erect, glabrous, reddish-green, internodes to 3.1 cm long, to 3.3 mm thick. Stipules early caducous, glabrous, oblong, 7.5−8.7 × 3.5−4.7 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse. Petiole glabrous, reddish-green, 1.1–5.5 cm long; lamina of the leaf oblique to the petiole, firmly membranous, strongly asymmetric, ovate or lanceolate, to 3.6−6.5 × 1.2−1.9 cm, base rounded on one side and lobulate on the other side, apex acuminate, lower surface pubescent mainly on the veins, pale green, upper surface sparsely pubescent, dark green, venation pinnate, 6–9 veined on each side. Inflorescence bisexual, axillary, erect, dichasium branched once with an umbel-like contracted cincinnus at the end of each branch, or only one cincinnus, bearing up to 4 staminate and 1 pistillate flowers, protandrous; peduncle puberulous, to 3.7 cm long, bracts sub-persistent, glabrous, hyaline or whitish, oblong, 4.8–5.8 × 2.3–3.7 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse. staminate flowers: pedicels glabrous, whitish, to 12 mm long; tepals 4, spreading, outer 2 glabrous, white, elliptic, 8.4–10.6 × 5.7–6.5 mm, margin entire, apex rounded, inner 2 glabrous, white, elliptic or obovate, 5.5–9.3 × 1.5–3 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse; stamens 11–14, projecting, yellow, filaments 0.5–.07 mm long, fused in a column, anthers oblong, 1.2–1.5 × 0.7–0.8 mm, dehiscence lateral, connective shortly projecting, ca. 0.2 mm, obtuse. Pistillate flowers: pedicels to 5.3 mm long; bracteoles 2, glabrous, elliptic or oblong, 3.8–4.9 × 1.8–2.5 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse; ovary body obdeltoid, ca. 10.5 × 18.4 mm, green with the apex of the horns reddish-green, glabrescent with series of hairs along the horns, equally 3-horns, horns lanceolate; tepals 4–5, subequal, spreading, glabrous, white, 12.5–13.7 × 4.9–5.8 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse; placenta branches entire, bearing ovules on both surfaces; styles multifid, with 3 main branches, yellow, 6–7.5 mm long, stigmatic papillae restricted to the apex. Fruiting pedicel to 4 mm long. Fruit a capsule, body shape and horns like those of the ovary, to 21 × 33 mm, drying maroon, column ca. 10 mm long.

Etymology:—Refers to the name of the mountain where this species is endemic, the Cerro Mamapacha in the Colombian department of Boyacá.

Distribution and habitat:— Begonia mamapachensis is endemic to the mountains known as Cerro Mamapacha, shared by the municipalities of Garagoa, Chinavita and Miraflores in the department of Boyacá on the eastern Colombian Cordillera, in a range between 2100 and 2500 m. Plants of this species have been found growing in the understory of the cloud forest, usually along tracks and stream borders.

Conservation status:― We included this species in the category of Endangered (EN B2a,b(iii)), because its EOO is less than 5000 km 2 and AOO is 8.4 km 2, it is not known to exist in more than five locations (B2a), and there is evidence of a reduction in the area and quality of habitat (B2b(iii)) (e.g., Etter and Villa, 2000; Armenteras et al. 2003).

Notes:—This species was named “ Begonia sp. nov. 5” in the phylogenies presented by Jara et al. (2019) and belongs to the clade V, which includes species with red flowers from the western Colombian cordillera and the broadly distributed and polymorphic Begonia urticae .

Additional specimens examined:— COLOMBIA. Boyacá: Municipio Garagoa, vereda Ciénega Valvanera, finca El Secreto , reserva privada El Secreto , en la carretera a Miraflores , camino a Cerro Mico , 5º07′39″- 5º07′53″N y 73º16′54″- 73º17′28″W, 2100-2500 m, 18 April 2003, Betancur 10211 ( COL, HUA); Garagoa, Reserva Natural El Secreto, lat. 5.1352°, lon. -73.2871°, 2200–2300 m, A . Jara 2725 ( ANDES); Zetaquira, vereda Guanata , bosque al lado izquierdo del poliducto de Ecopetrol, 5º17’23’’N, 73º16’86’’, 2450 m, 7 May 2010, Zabala 683 ( UPTC); Miraflores, vereda la Rusita, transecto de bosque secundario, 5º11’41’’N, 73º12’14’’, 2143-2220 m, 12 May 2010 Zabala 890 ( UPTC) .

Figures

FIGURE 4. Begonia mamapachensis. A) Branch, B) Leaf from above, and from below, C) Staminate flower, D) Pistillate flower, E) Fruit, F) Cross section of the fruit. Based on live plants in the Bogota Botanic Garden, by O. Bernal.

FIGURE 5. Distribution of Begonia diegoi, Begonia galenoi, Begonia kalbreyeri var. oquidensis, and Begonia mamapachensis.