Botanical Studies (2007) 48: 127-132.

*

Corresponding author: Email:

bopeng@sinica.edu.tw

; Tel:

+886-2-2789-3821; Fax: +886-2-2789-1623.

INTRODUCTION

We report a handsome Begonia that has been

commonly propagated for sale in the flower markets in

northern Taiwan since 2006, but without a scientific name.

The owner of the flower shop from whom we purchased

the plants and made the type specimen indicated that this

highly ornamental species was a contaminant of other

horticultural plants imported from Vietnam. During the

first author’s visit to the Institute of Ecology and Bio-

logical Resources, Hanoi in 2004, Prof. Nguyen Tien

Hiep showed us his collection of images of Begonia he

photographed in the field in northern Vietnam. One of

them, from Thai Nguyen Province, clearly matches the

flower shop species in every respect. Since species of

Begonia in sect. Coelocentrum are adapted to limestone

and are highly restricted in distribution, we believe

that this handsome new species is endemic to northern

Vietnam. The conservation status of this species is not

known. However, like most species of Begonia, it can be

propagated with ease by seeds or leaf cuttings.

NEW SPECIES

Begonia kui C.-I Peng, sp. nov.—TYPE: Original locality

not known; possibly from Thai Nguyen Province in

northern Vietnam. Type specimens pressed from plants

purchased from a floral market in Dali City, Taichung

County, Taiwan and cultivated in the experimental

greenhouse of Academia Sinica, 17 Jul 2006, Ching-I

Peng 20847 (holotype: HAST; isotypes: A, HN, IBK,

MO, NY). 麗紋秋海棠 (Figures 1, 2)

Begonia kui aspectu similis B. variegatae Y. M. Shui &

W. H. Chen, sed foliis apice obtusis vel rodundatis, mar-

gine albo-maculatis, inflorescentiis pilosis, tepalis exteri-

oribus subroseis vel rubellis subtus brevipilosis, androecio

zygomorpho vel subzygomorpho, capsulis glabris differt.

Herbs monoecious, epipetric, perennial, rhizomatous.

Rhizome 5-10 cm or longer, 5-15 mm thick, internodes

6-10 mm long, sparsely hirsute. Stipules caducous, ovate-

triangular, 7-14 mm long, 7-11 mm wide, weakly keeled,

abaxially hirsute-villous, margin ciliate or ciliolate, apex

aristate, arista 1-2.5 mm long, hair-like. Leaves 3-6, al-

ternate, simple, asymmetric, unlobed, suborbicular, base

cordate, margin denticulate and ciliolate, apex obtuse

or subrounded, rarely acute, 9-20 cm long (basal lobes

included), 8-16 cm wide, adaxially dark brown, adorned

with white stripes in intercostal area and with white spots

near the margins, abaxially red or reddish, texture thickly

papery, surface rugose, adaxially pilose-setose or villous-

setose (trichomes 1-2 mm long, with a conically swollen

base), abaxially villous, villosity pronounced on veins and

veinlets; venation basally 6-7-palmate, midrib indistinct,

veins pinnate along midrib, with 1-3 major lateral veins on

each side, other primary veins branching dichotomously

or nearly so, tertiary veins reticulate and weakly percur-

rent, minor veins densely reticulate, all veins on abaxial

surface prominently raised; petiole terete, 5-9 cm long,

4-8 mm thick, brownish, densely hirsute-villous. Inflores-

Begonia kui (sect. Coelocentrum, Begoniaceae), a new

species from Vietnam

Ching-I PENG

1,

*, Tung-Yu HSIEH

2

, and Quang Hieu NGYUEN

3

1

Herbarium (HAST), Research Center for Biodiversity, Academia Sinica, Nangang, Taipei 115, Taiwan

2

Department of Horticulture Science, National Chung-Hsing University, 250 Kuo Kuang Road, Taichung, Taiwan

3

New York Botanical Garden, 200

th

Street and Southern Boulevard, New York, NY 10458, USA

(Received September 5 2006; Accepted December 4, 2006)

ABSTRACT

. Begonia kui, a new species of sect. Coelocentrum, is described and illustrated. Begonia kui is

somewhat similar to B. variegata Y. M. Shui & W. H. Chen, differing in the leaf apex obtuse or rounded (vs.

shortly acuminate); leaf margin with a white maculation (vs. with a dark brown band); inflorescences pilose (vs.

glandular-hispid); outer tepals pinkish or reddish (vs. greenish or greenish-yellow), abaxially shortly pilose (vs.

glandular-hispid); androecium zygomorphic or nearly so (vs. actinomorphic); and ovaries and fruits glabrous (vs.

glandular-hispid). Begonia kui is available from floral markets in northern Taiwan, possibly originated from

Thai Nguyen Province in northern Vietnam.

Keywords: Begonia kui; Begonia variegata; New species; sect. Coelocentrum; Vietnam.

TAxONOmy

128

Botanical Studies, Vol. 48, 2007

Figure 1. Begonia kui C.-I Peng. A, Habit; B, Portion of leaf margin, abaxial surface; C, Portion of leaf, cross section; D, Stipule,

expanded; E, E’, Stipule, abaxial and adaxial surfaces, showing subcucullate and involute stipules; F, Portion of peduncle; G, Bracts;

H, Staminate flower, face view; H’, back view; I, Stamen, dorsal view; I’, ventral view; I’’, side view; J, Carpellate flower, face view;

J’, side view; K, Style and s tigma, dorsal view; K’, ventral view; L, Cross section of ovary; M,

capsule; N, Seed. (All from C.-I Peng

20847, the type at HAST).

Peng et al. —

Begonia kui

, a new species from Vietnam

129

Figure 2. Begonia kui C.-I Peng. A, Habit; B, Leaf, abaxial surface; C, Leaf cross section, showing trichomes and midrib; D, Leaf

margin, adaxial surface; E, Staminate flower, face view; F, Staminate flower, back view; G, Carpellate flower, face view; H, Carpellate

flower, side view; I, Ovary, middle cross section; J, Capsule. (All from C.-I Peng 20847, the type at HAST).

cences axillary, 1-5, arising directly from rhizome, many-

flowered, flowers 50-170 in a dichasial cyme branched 6-9

times; staminate flowers 40-140, carpellate flowers 10-30;

peduncle well developed, taller than leaves, terete, erect,

9-17 cm long, 2-3.5 mm thick, reddish brown, pilose or

sparsely so. Bracts caducous, ovate-triangular, broadly

elliptic, oblong, obovate or lunate, margin serrulate and

ciliate, apex acute to rounded, 1.5-14 mm long, 1.5-9 mm

wide, brownish, abaxially with some minute subsessile

glandular hairs. Staminate flowers: pedicel 9-23 mm long,

with few minute subsessile glandular hairs; tepals 4, outer

2 suborbicular or widely ovate, base rounded, margin

entire, eciliate, apex rounded or obtuse, 8-13 mm long,

8-12.5 mm wide, abaxially reddish to red and adaxially

130

Botanical Studies, Vol. 48, 2007

pinkish or reddish toward the margin and apex, abaxially

subglabrous or sparsely shortly pilose (trichomes reddish,

0.3-0.6 mm long); inner 2 tepals oblanceolate, obovate or

narrowly so, base cuneate, margin entire, eciliate, apex

rounded or obtuse, 9-14 long, 3.5-6 mm wide, white,

glabrous; androecium zygomorphic or near so, stamens

22-40, golf club-shaped; filaments subequal, 1-1.5 mm

long, base slightly fused; anthers ± ascending, 2-locular,

slightly compressed, oblong-obovoid, connective

apex

emarginate, 0.85-1 mm long, 0.6-0.7 mm wide, yellow.

Carpellate flowers: pedicel 7.5-13 mm long, with few

minute subsessile glandular hairs, bracteole absent; tepals

3 (rarely 4), caducous, if persistent not thickened when

fruiting; outer 2 tepals suborbicular or oblate, margin

entire, eciliate, 8–11 mm long, 10–12 mm wide, abaxially

reddish to red and adaxially pinkish or reddish toward the

margin and apex, abaxially subglabrous or sparsely shortly

pilose; inner tepal narrowly obovate or obovate, base cu-

neate, apex rounded or obtuse, 7-8 mm long, 5-6.5 mm

wide, white, glabrous; ovary trigonous-ellipsoid, 7-9 mm

long, 4-5 mm thick (wings excluded), greenish or reddish,

glabrous or near so; wings 3, unequal; lateral wings nar-

rower, 5-6 mm tall; abaxial wing obliquely rectangular-

triangular or obliquely triangular, concave along outer

margin, 8-9 mm tall, 7-8 mm wide; locule 1, placenta-

tion intruded parietal (axile at base); placentae 3, each

2-branched; styles 3, slightly tilted, fused at base, apically

C-shaped; stigmatic band spiraled. Capsule nodding, with

stipe 8-15 mm long, greenish and reddish when fresh,

8-10 mm long, 5-6 mm thick (wings excluded), apex with

persistent styles; lateral wings 4.5-5 mm tall; abaxial wing

13-16 mm tall, 9-11 mm wide. Seeds numerous, brown,

ellipsoid or broadly so, 0.48-0.6 mm long, 0.27-0.32 mm

thick, chalazal end rounded or truncate, micropylar end

obtuse or slightly constricted, outer periclinal walls of ma-

ture seeds concave; collar cells elongated, straight, nearly

rectangular, 9-12 cells in a ring, occupying 1/2-2/3 of seed

length.

Distribution. Thai Nguyen Province, Vietnam; exact

locality unknown.

Etymology. The specific epithet commemo-

rates Mr. Shin-Ming Ku, a keen student of Begonia

sect. Coelocentrum, who contributed much to our

understanding of the taxonomy of this group of plants in

the karst region of southern China during the last several

years.

Phenology. Flowering May to December in cultivation;

fruiting July to January.

Notes. Begonia kui is a unique species in sect.

Coelocentrum. It is somewhat similar to B. variegata

Y. M. Shui & W. H. Chen, differing in the leaf apex

obtuse or rounded (vs. shortly acuminate); leaf margin

with a white maculation (vs. with a dark brown band);

inflorescences pilose (vs. glandular-hispid); outer tepals

pinkish or reddish (vs. greenish or greenish-yellowish),

abaxially shortly pilose (vs. glandular-hispid); androe-

cium zygomorphic or nearly so (vs. actinomorphic);

and capsules glabrous. It is also somewhat similar to B.

picturata Yan Liu, S. M. Ku & C.-I Peng (Liu et al., 2005)

and B. retinervia D. Fang, D. H. Qin & C.-I Peng (Fang

et al., 2006), but differs in the leaf maculation pattern (B.

picturata with a pale ring; B. retinervia with pale bands

along main veins), the many-flowered inflorescences, and

characters in flowers and fruits. A detailed comparison of

the salient characters of the four species is shown in Table

1.

As all other species of Begonia sect. Coelocentrum for

which chromosome numbers are known (Ku et al. 2004;

Peng et al., 2005a, 2005b; Liu et al., 2005; Fang et al.,

2006; Ku et al., 2006), B. kui has a somatic chromosome

number of 2n = 30. It has an asymmetrical karyotype, with

one pair of long, metacentric chromosomes and 28 short

chromosomes (Figure 3).

Figure 3. A-B, Somatic chromosome spreads of Begonia kui (2n = 30), showing a pair of long, metacentric chromosomes (arrows)

and 28 short chromosomes.

Peng et al. —

Begonia kui

, a new species from Vietnam

131

132

Botanical Studies, Vol. 48, 2007

越南產秋海棠屬側½組一新種：麗紋秋海棠

彭鏡毅

1

謝東佑

2

Quang Hieu NGYUEN

3

1

中央研究院生物多樣性研究中心植物標本館 (HAST)

2

國立中興大學園藝學系

3

美國紐約植物園

　　本文報導秋海棠屬側½組一新種：麗紋秋海棠 (Begonia kui)，提供½繪圖與彩色照片以資辨識。

麗紋秋海棠與彩紋秋海棠 (B. variegata) 相似，區別在於葉片先端不呈短漸尖；葉面於脈間區有白色條

斑、近葉½處常有白色斑塊而非呈暗½色環狀邊；外花被片帶紅色或粉紅色，遠軸面具短柔毛或近於光

滑；雄蕊群兩側對稱或近似如此；子房與果實光滑無毛等特徵。該植物於台灣的花市出售，根據越南河

內的生態與生物資源研究所 Tien Hiep Nguyen 教授提供之生態照片，本種植物可能原產於越南太原省。

關鍵詞：麗紋秋海棠；彩紋秋海棠；新種；側½組；越南。

Acknowledgments. We thank Shin-Ming Ku and Ming-

Chao Yu (HAST) for the handsome line drawing and

technical assistance with the color plate; Yoshiko Kono

(HAST) for the chromosome spread; Qiner Yang (PE) for

the Latin diagnosis; Nguyen Tien Hiep (HN) for the useful

distribution information; and David E. Boufford (GH) and

Thomas G. Lammers (OSH) for improving the manuscript.

LITERATURE CITED

Fang, D., S.M. Ku, Y.G. Wei, D.H. Qin, and C.-I Peng. 2006.

Three new taxa of Begonia (sect. Coelocentrum, Begonia-

ceae) from limestone areas in Guangxi, China. Bot. Stud.

47: 97-110.

Ku, S.M., C.-I Peng, and Y. Liu. 2004. Notes on Begonia (sect.

Coelocentrum, Begoniaceae) from Guangxi, China, with

the report of two new species. Bot. Bull. Acad. Sin. 45:

353-367.

Ku, S .M., Y. Liu, and C.-I Peng. 2006. Four new species of

Begonia sect. Coelocentrum (Begoniaceae) from limestone

areas in Guangxi, China. Bot. Stud. 47: 207-222.

Liu, Y., S.M. Ku, and C.-I Peng. 2005. Begonia picturata (sect.

Coelocentrum, Begoniaceae), a new species from limestone

areas in Guangxi, China. Bot. Bull. Acad. Sin. 46: 367-376.

Peng, C.-I, Y.M. Shui, Y. Liu, and S .M. Ku. 2005a. Begonia

fangii (sect. Coelocentrum, Begoniaceae), a new species

from limestone areas in Guangxi, China. Bot. Bull. Acad.

Sin. 46: 83-89.

Peng, C.-I, S.M. Ku, and W.C. Leong. 2005b. Begonia liuyanii

(sect. Coelocentrum, Begoniaceae), a new s pecies from

limestone areas in Guangxi, China. Bot. Bull. Acad. Sin.

46: 245-254.

Shui, Y.M. and W.H. Chen. 2005. New data of sect. Coelocen-

trum (Begonia) in Begoniaceae. Acta Bot. Yunnan. 27(4):

355-374.