Begonia parviflora Poepp. & Endl., 2022

Moonlight, Peter & Fuentes, Alfredo F., 2022, AN UPDATED CHECKLIST AND KEY TO THE SPECIES OF BOLIVIAN BEGONIA, INCLUDING ONE NEW SPECIES, Edinburgh Journal of Botany 79 (407), pp. 1-66 : 41-42

7.33. Begonia parviflora Poepp. & Endl. , Nov. Gen. Sp. 1: 7, pl. 12 (1835).

– Scheidweilera parviflora (Poepp. & Endl.) Klotzsch, Abh. Kon. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1854: 179 (1855) . – Type: Peru, [Huánuco Region, Pampayacu], in Andim Peruviae orientalis ad Pampayaco, [8 ° 29′S, 76 ° 26′W], vi–ix, E.F. Poeppig s.n. (lectotype W, designated here).

L.B. Smith & B.G. Schubert, Revista Univ. (Cuzco) 33(87): 83 (1944); Rusby, H.H., Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 3: 40 (1893); R.C. Foster, Contr. Gray Herb. 184: 138 (1958); D.C.

Wasshausen et al. in P.M. JØrgensen et al. (eds), Cat. Bolivia, Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 129: 385 (2013).

Begonia micrantha Steud nom. nud., Nomencl. Bot. (Steudel), ed. 2, 1: 194 (1840).

Begonia myriantha Britton , Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 18: 35 (1891). – Type: Bolivia, [La Paz Department, Prov. Sud Yungas], Unduavi, [16°19′S, 67°54′W], 8000 ft, H.H. Rusby 691 (lectotype NY [ NY00118634 ] designated here; isolectotypes BM [ BM001191446 ], F [ F0052634 F], GH [2: GH00068258 , GH00068259 ], K [ K000536739 ], MICH [ MICH1115795 ], NY [2: NY00118633 ], PH [ PH 00007795], US [2: US 00222465, US00115399], WIS [WISv0257074WIS]).

R.C. Foster, Contr. Gray Herb. 184: 138 (1958).

Distribution. Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

Nomenclatural notes. Begonia myriantha Britton was described based on the collection H.H. Rusby 691 ( Britton, 1891: 35). Both the collector and the author were based at the New York Botanical Garden herbarium, and there are three sheets of this collection in New York. All three are good material, and we choose NY00118634 as the lectotype because it has ‘ Begonia myriantha Britton n.sp. ’ handwritten on the label and a copy of the protologue attached as a second label.

Identification notes. Begonia parviflora is a very distinctive species. It is the only species of Bolivian Begonia that regularly reaches maturity at over 2 m in height and may reach 10 m tall. It is also the only upright species of Bolivian Begonia with leaves that exceed 50 cm in diameter and with well over 100 flowers per inflorescence. Immature plants may be confused with Begonia acerifolia , B. leathermaniae or B. wollnyi but can be distinguished by the rough, sandpaper-like texture of its leaves, which is due to the cystoliths in the leaf laminae.