Begonia silverstonii Jara, 2016

Jara-Muñoz, O. A. & C. Dc, 2016, Two new species of Begonia (Begoniaceae) from the Colombian Western Cordillera, Phytotaxa 257 (1), pp. 81-88 : 83-86

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/phytotaxa.257.1.6

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/961B87C1-2A17-FFE1-FF4E-F937D39FF897

treatment provided by

Felipe

scientific name

Begonia silverstonii Jara
status

sp. nov.

Begonia silverstonii Jara sp. nov. Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2 (A–H), Fig. 3 View FIGURE 3 (C, D, E)

Similar to Begonia libera (L.B.Sm. & B.G.Schub. 1946: 208) L.B.Sm. & B.G.Schub. (1955: 113) but distinguished by the leaves glabrous below (versus pubescent in B. libera ), by its ovate leaves (versus oblong-elliptic), and by its longer petioles (5.4–30.6 mm versus 3.1–6.5 mm) (Appendix 2 for specimens examined).

Type:— COLOMBIA. Chocó: San José del Palmar, Cerro Torrá, vertiente nororiental, arriba del helipuerto, bosque nublado primario con mucho musgo, con alta diversidad de Orquídeas, aprox. 1970 m, 9 January 1984, F. Silverston-Sopkin, A. Duque, H. Bayona 1672 (holotype COL!, isotypes CUVC!, MO!)

Erect herb, 30–100 cm tall. Stem 1–3 mm in diameter, glabrous, with surface tuberculate. Stipules caducous, elliptic, symmetric, 14.4–27.3 × 6.1–11.4 mm, glabrous, membranaceous and hyaline, margin entire, apex acute, rarely obtuse to rounded, with terminal seta of ca. 0.9–1.2 mm. Petioles 5.4–30.6 mm, puberulent. Leaf lamina straight, ovate, slightly asymmetric, 7.3–17.2 × 3.6–8.5 cm; margin serrulate to crenate-serrulate, with small reddish teeth on the tips of the bigger ones; base unequal, rounded, apex acuminate, above mostly glabrous or with one hair between each pair of secondary veins, puberulent on the veins, glabrous below; veins pinnate, with 6–8 pairs of veins. Inflorescence: a monochasial cyme with very short internodes, 3–4 flowers, bisexual or consisting only of staminate flowers, protandrous; peduncle minutely puberulent, 26.7–69.3 mm long. Bracts elliptic to lanceolate, 7.0–14.3 × 2.6–8.4 mm; apex acute; margin entire. Staminate flowers: pedicels 8.8–12.3 mm long, glabrous; perianth campanulate, with two series; outer tepals 2, fused to <¼ the total length, orbicular, 8.2–13.1 × 2.9–14.8 mm, rounded to emarginate at the apex, glabrous, orange-red; inner tepals 2, free, flabellate, rounded to truncate at the apex, subequal to the stamens, ca. 2.8 × 4.4 mm, pale red, glabrous; stamens with short filament ca. 0.3 mm long, torus wanting, anthers obovate, ca. 1.8 × 0.5 mm, with connectives slightly pronounced. Pistillate flowers: pedicels 0.2–1.0 mm long; bracteoles wanting; perianth campanulate, tepals 5, four outer tepals sub-equals, almost free, obovate, 13.5–14.0 × 12.9–13.5 mm, glabrous, orange-red, margin entire, apex rounded, the inner tepal smaller, ca. 14.4 × 7.8 mm, oblong-obovate; ovary trilocular, placentae entire, ovuliferous throughout; styles multifid, ca. 2.9 mm long; stigmatic surface covering only the apices of the styles. Capsule turbinate, with three lateral “horns”, glabrous, 20.2–23.5 × 25.9–42.4 mm, beak of the horns 3.7–9.8 mm long; apical column 8.4–22.6 mm long.

Discussion:— Because of its 6 stamens, the two series of tepals in staminate flowers, and the absence of a small inner tepal series in the pistillate flowers (versus inner tepals series about equaling the stiles like in B. kalbreyeri), this species resembles Begonia libera. It differs from that species, however, by the characters cited in the diagnosis. There are few collections of B. libera and all come from ca. 140 km to the south of the type locality of B. silverstonii, on the same Western Cordillera, at a lower elevation (1000–1400 m) than B. silverstonii (2000 –2500).

Distribution and habitat: —This species have a partially overlapping distribution with B. suaviola , even sharing the same microhabitat and flowering simultaneously. B. suaviola has not been reported from the Cerro Torrá (Valle del Cauca), and B. silverstonii has not been reported as northern as Alto Galápago (on the border between Chocó and Valle del Cauca departments) ( Fig. 4 View FIGURE 4 ).

Etymology: —The epithet honors the botanist Philip A. Silverstone-Sopkin, who has collected and studied intensely the Valle del Cauca flora, from his position in the Herbarium (CUVC) in Cali (Valle del Cauca, Colombia).

F

Field Museum of Natural History, Botany Department

A

Harvard University - Arnold Arboretum

H

University of Helsinki

COL

Universidad Nacional de Colombia

CUVC

Universidad del Valle

MO

Missouri Botanical Garden

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