Begonia beludruvenea M. Hughes 2015, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Hughes, Mark
name: Girmansyah, Deden
name: Ardi, Wisnu Handoyo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Cucurbitales
Begoniaceae
Begonia
Begonia beludruvenea

description: Begonia beludruvenea M.Hughes sp. nov. § Bracteibegonia
urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77151638-1
Figs 1, 2
Diagnosis
The velvety red hairs on the stem and veins are distinctive. B. beludruvenea is nearest to B. verecunda M.Hughes (Hughes et al. 2009) from Gunung Leuser National Park in terms of its habit and leaf shape, but the hairs are denser and fleshier, the male flowers are slightly larger (10–14 mm diameter, not c. 9 mm) and have 2 (not 4) tepals, and the styles are longer in the female flowers (c. 5 mm, not 3–4 mm). B. verecunda has not been recorded from limestone, whereas B. beludruvenea is a limestone endemic.
Etymology
The epithet is derived from the Indonesian word for “velvet”, beludru, referring to the dense red hairs on the veins.
Type
SUMATRA: West Sumatra, Bukit Sebelah, 400 m, 22 Jul. 2009, Hughes & Taufiq MH 1541 (holo-: BO; iso-: E).
Additional material
SUMATRA: West Sumatra, Bukit Sebelah, 350 m, 20 May 1983, Pannell 1860 (BO); ibid., 450 m, 23 Jul. 2009, Hughes & Taufiq MH 1549 A (BO, E).
Description
Erect low-growing caulescent herb c. 15 cm tall; stem strigose with red fleshy hairs, internodes 1–2 cm long. Stipules persistent, hairy at the base, c. 10 mm long, elongate lanceolate, apex ending in a fine hair. Leaves: petiole 4–15 mm long, terete, red strigose; lamina obovate-oblong to elliptic, asymmetric, 6–9 × 2–4.5 cm, basifixed, base cordate, oblique, lobes overlapping slightly, larger lobe auriculate; upper surface dark green, sometimes with a blue iridescence, glabrous or with sparse evenly spaced bristles between the veins; underside paler green, red strigose on the veins; venation pinnate-palmate; margin dentate-crenate, apex obtuse to acute. Inflorescence terminal, total length c. 5 cm, a compressed cyme, appearing fasciculate, protandrous, with c. 4 flowers, 2 male and 2 female; primary peduncle 1.5–2.5 cm, with short white hairs; bracts persistent, lanceolate, 2–7 mm long, margin denticulate, apex acute. Male flower: pedicel c. 15 mm long, white, with short white hairs; tepals 2, sub-orbicular, based cordate when young, truncate when open, white, 10 × 12–14 mm, minutely denticulate to entire, sparsely puberulous on the veins, apex rounded or obtuse; androecium yellow, symmetric, a loose fascicle, slightly asymmetric, shorter stamens uppermost; stamens 25–30, filaments fused at the base into a short column, unequal, 1.5–2 mm; anthers oblong, subequal, 1.5–2 mm, hooded, apex retuse, dehiscing through slits about ⅔ the length of the anther. Female flower: pedicel 5–9 mm long, pale green, sparsely hairy; ovary pinkishwhite, hairy on the capsule and wing edge, triangular, total size 10 × 8 mm including the wings; capsule ellipsoid, 9 × 2–3 mm, 3-locular, placentae entire; wings subequal, 2–3 mm wide; tepals 5, obovateelliptic, pale pink in bud, white when open, 7–10 mm long, outer 3 denticulate, sparsely puberulent, 5 mm wide, inner 2 entire, glabrous, 4 mm wide, tepals closing and turning green after pollination and during fruit maturation; stigmas 3, free, Y-shaped, stigmatic surface once spirally twisted. Fruit recurved on a stiff pedicel c. 10 mm long, total size 13 × 10 mm including the wings, larger wing 13 × 3 mm and more rounded at the base than the 2 smaller ones, 2 smaller wings 10 × 3 mm; apex truncate.
Distribution and habitat
Endemic to the Bukit Sebelah limestone in West Sumatra (Fig. 2), where it grows on steep, shaded clay soil banks over the limestone base rock.
Conservation status
The bulk of the distribution lies within the Bukit Sebelah and Batang Pangean protection forest which is likely to represent its full natural range. Although there is low level disturbance around the forest tracks, the reserve is reasonably intact and populations of B. beludruvenea can colonise previously disturbed bare soil banks. Although naturally rare, following IUCN (2012) we consider the species as Least Concern as long as the reserve is well managed.
description: Published as part of Hughes, Mark, Girmansyah, Deden & Ardi, Wisnu Handoyo, 2015, Further discoveries in the ever-expanding genus Begonia (Begoniaceae): fifteen new species from Sumatra, pp. 1-40 in European Journal of Taxonomy 167 on pages 7-8, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2015.167, http://zenodo.org/record/3805815