Begonia scorpiocaulis Moonlight & Tebbitt
Creators: name: Moonlight, Peter. W.
name: Jara-Muñoz, Orlando A.
name: Purvis, David A.
name: Delves, Jay
name: Allen, Josh P.
name: Reynel, Carlos
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Cucurbitales
Begoniaceae
Begonia
Begonia scorpiocaulis

description: 59. Begonia scorpiocaulis Moonlight & Tebbitt
Figs 71A, 75
Edinburgh Journal of Botany 74 (2): 185 (Moonlight et al. 2017b).
– Type: PERU • Madre de Dios Region: Pantiacolla, serranía across río alto Madre de Dios from Shintuya; [12°39′ S, 71°17′ W]; 480–840 m a.s.l.; 29 Oct. 1979; A.H. Gentry, J. Terborgh, J. Aronson & R. Ramirez 27367; holotype: MO [MO-2154624].
Etymology
Named for the contorted stem of the species, which resembles the coiled tail of a scorpion.
Description
Caulescent herb, to 20 cm high. Stem erect, unbranched; internodes to 2 cm long at the base and progressively shorter towards the apex, to 5 mm thick, succulent, brown, glabrous. Stipules tardily deciduous, lanceolate, 4–10 × 2–4 mm, apex acuminate to mucronate, opaque, brown, glabrous, margin entire, aciliate. Leaves> 3, alternate, basifixed; petiole 3–4 cm long, colour unknown, glabrous; blade asymmetrical, elliptic to oblanceolate, to 12.5 × 3.5 cm, succulent, apex acuminate, base rounded on the broad side of the lamina, cuneate on the narrow side, margin irregularly dentate, ciliate, upper colour unknown, glabrous, lower surface colour unknown, glabrous, veins palmate-pinnate, with 6–8 veins from the base, with 3–4 secondary veins on the broad side of the lamina, 1–3 on the narrow side. Inflorescences at least one per stem, presumed bisexual, axillary, erect, cymose, with up to 4 branches, presumed to bear up to 8 staminate flowers and 8 pistillate flowers, protandrous; peduncle to 6 cm long, colour unknown, glabrous, bracts late deciduous, narrowly-lanceolate, ca 3 × 1 mm, translucent, colour unknown, glabrous, acute, margin denticulate, ciliate. Staminate flowers: unknown. Pistillate flowers: pedicels to 15 mm long; bracteoles 3, directly beneath the ovary, lanceolate to ovate, ca 5 × 3 mm, translucent, colour known, glabrous, apex acute to obtuse, margin serrate, ciliate; tepals 5, subequal, persistent in fruit, spreading, lanceolate to ovate, 4–7 × 2–3 mm, apex obtuse to rounded, orange, glabrous, margin entire, aciliate; ovary body ellipsoid, ca 6 × 4 mm, colour unknown, glabrous, unequally 3-winged, wings triangular, the largest 7–9 × 10–13 mm, the smallest two 6–8 × 5–6 mm; 3-locular, placentae branches divided, bearing ovules on both surfaces; styles 3, yellow, free, ca 5 mm long, once-divided, stigmatic papillae in a spirally twisted band. Fruiting pedicel unknown. Fruit unknown.
Proposed conservation assessment
Assessed by Moonlight et al. (2017b) as Data Deficient (DD).
Identification notes
Begonia scorpiocaulis is the only Begonia species from Andean South America that has yellow flowers but no tuber.
Distribution and ecology
Endemic to Peru and known only from the type collection collected in Madre de Dios Region (Fig. 71A). Found at an altitude of 480–840 m a.s.l. in an area of Amazonian or lower montane forest. Begonia scorpiocaulis was collected as an epiphyte, which is surprising as its closest relatives B. albomaculata, B. chemillenensis, and B. maynensis are principally collected as terrestrial herbs.
description: Published as part of Moonlight, Peter. W., Jara-Muñoz, Orlando A., Purvis, David A., Delves, Jay, Allen, Josh P. & Reynel, Carlos, 2023, The genus Begonia (Begoniaceae) in Peru, pp. 1-334 in European Journal of Taxonomy 881 on pages 234-236, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2023.881.2175, http://zenodo.org/record/8178280