The genus Begonia (Begoniaceae) in Peru
Author
Moonlight, Peter. W.
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20 A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH 3 5 LR, Scotland, UK. & Botany Department, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
moonligp@tcd.ie
Author
Jara-Muñoz, Orlando A.
Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá D. C., Colombia.
oajaram@unal.edu.co
Author
Purvis, David A.
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20 A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH 3 5 LR, Scotland, UK.
dpurvis@rbge.org.uk
Author
Delves, Jay
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20 A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH 3 5 LR, Scotland, UK.
j.delves@westernsydney.edu.au
Author
Allen, Josh P.
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20 A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH 3 5 LR, Scotland, UK.
myrmeciaman@gmail.com
Author
Reynel, Carlos
Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Nacional Agraria-La Molina, Lima 12, Peru.
reynel@lamolina.edu.pe
text
European Journal of Taxonomy
2023
2023-07-18
881
1
334
http://dx.doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2023.881.2175
journal article
https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2023.881.2175
2118-9773
8178280
19.
Begonia alto-peruviana
A.DC.
Fig. 35A
Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis
11: 123 (
de Candolle 1859
).
–
Type
:
BOLIVIA
–
Prov. Larecaja
•
Vallées entre Tipuani et Apolobamba
;
May 1847
;
M.H. Weddell
4556
;
lectotype
:
P
[
P05586898
, photo K],
first stage designated by
Smith & Schubert (1941a: 185)
; second stage designated by
Smith & Schubert (1944: 81)
.
de Candolle (1864: 289)
;
Smith & Schubert (1941a: 185
,
1944: 81
); Wasshausen
et al.
(2014: 383).
Etymology
The
type
specimen of this species was collected in La Paz Department in modern day
Bolivia
. Much of
Bolivia
was previously governed by
Spain
as
Alto Peru
and the species epithet is in reference to this, despite the fact
Bolivia
was declared independent before the
type
was collected and long before the protologue was published.
Specimens examined
PERU
–
Cusco Region
:
Prov. Quispicanchis
•
Marcapata-Quincemil road
,
between Puente Capiri and Mandor
;
13°24′ S
,
70°33′ W
;
1152 m
a.s.l.
;
8 Jan. 2015
;
M.C. Tebbitt
&
A. Daza
808
;
E
[
E01059294
],
MOL
. –
Puno Region
:
Prov. Carabaya
•
Alrededores de San Gabán
;
13°38′32.94″ S
,
70°28′12.9″ W
;
1610–1700 m
a.s.l.
;
9 Jan. 2016
;
H. Trinidad
HT-4101
;
USM
•
Ollachea-San Gabán
road,
Camatane
; [
13°38′ S
,
70°27′ W
];
25 Aug. 1980
;
J.D. Boeke
&
S. Boeke
3206
;
NY
•
Ollachea abajo
; [
13°37′ S
,
70°27′ W
];
1200–1400 m
a.s.l.
;
Jul. 1966
;
J.C. Vargas Calderón
17597
;
MO
[
MO-1835899
]
. –
Prov. Sandia
•
bajando a Valle Grande
; [
14°18′ S
,
69°27′ W
];
2200 m
a.s.l.
;
7Aug. 1957
;
J.C. Vargas Calderón
11845
;
CUZ
.
Description
Caulescent herb, to
1 m
high.
Stem
erect, branching; internodes to
5.5 cm
long, to
5 mm
thick, succulent, brown, glabrous.
Stipules
deciduous, elliptic, ca 35 ×
10 mm
, apex obtuse, translucent, pale green, glabrous, margin entire, aciliate.
Leaves
> 5, alternate, basifixed; petiole
2.5–5.5 cm
long, green, glabrous to sparsely pilose; blade asymmetric, ovate, to 19 ×
10 cm
, succulent, apex short-acuminate, base cordate, basal lobes not overlapping, sinus to
25 mm
deep, margin serrulate, ciliate, upper surface dark green, glabrous, lower surface pale green to red, glabrous, veins palmate-pinnate, 7–8 veined from the base, with 3–4 secondary veins on the larger side, 1–3 secondary veins on the larger side.
Inflorescences
1–3, bisexual, axillary, erect, cymose, with 16 branches, bearing up to 32 staminate flowers and 16 pistillate flowers, protandrous; peduncle to
7.5 cm
long, colour unknown, glabrous, bracts deciduous, ovate, ca 1 ×
0.5 mm
, translucent, colour unknown, glabrous, apex obtuse, margin entire, aciliate.
Male flowers
: pedicels to
8 mm
long, glabrous; tepals 2, spreading, broadly ovate, 6–7 ×
6–8 mm
, apex obtuse, white flushed pink, glabrous, margin entire, aciliate; stamens ca 15, spreading, yellow, filaments ca
2 mm
long, free, anthers ellipsoid, ca 1.5 ×
0.5 mm
long, dehiscing via lateral slits, connectives extended to
0.2 mm
, symmetrically basifixed.
Female flowers
: pedicels to
30 mm
long; bracteoles 3, positioned directly beneath the ovary, broadly-ovate, 5–6 ×
6–7 mm
, apex rounded, translucent, pink, glabrous, margin serrate, ciliate; tepals 5, subequal, persistent in fruit, spreading, lanceolate, 12–15 ×
4–6 mm
, apex obtuse, white, glabrous, margin entire, aciliate; ovary body ovoid, 8–10 ×
6–8 mm
, white flushed pink on the outside, glabrous, unequally 3-winged, wings triangular, largest 8–11 ×
10–13 mm
, smallest 10–11 ×
4–5 mm
; 3-locular, placentae branches divided, bearing ovules on both surfaces; styles 3, yellow, free,
4–6 mm
long, once-divided, stigmatic papillae in a spirally twisted band.
Fruiting pedicel
to
35 mm
long.
Fruit body
ovoid, to 10 ×
8 mm
, drying pale brown, wings same shape as in ovary, the largest expanding to 15 ×
15 mm
, the smallest expanding to 14 ×
6 mm
.
Proposed conservation assessment
Broadly distributed with a range encompassing
Cuzco
and
Puno
Regions of
Peru
and much of northern and central Andean
Bolivia
. It seems common within its Bolivian range and was extremely common in
September
2020
in the valley of the río Sandia, including in disturbed areas, despite being known from only a single collection in this area. We assess
B. alto-peruviana
as Least Concern (LC).
Fig. 35.
Distribution of the stenotepala group of
Begonia
sect.
Cyathocnemis
(Klotzsch) A.DC.
in Peru and surrounding countries.
A
.
B. alto-peruviana
A.DC.
(red).
B
.
B. brevicordata
L.B.Sm. & B.G.Schub.
(red),
B. deltoides
Moonlight
sp. nov.
(blue), and
B. lucifuga
Irmsch
(green).
C
.
B. longitepala
Moonlight
sp. nov.
(red) and
B. subspinulosa
Irmsch.
(blue).
D
.
B. stenotepala
L.B.Sm. & B.G.Schub.
(red). Black lines indicate country borders, grey lines indicate major administrative divisions, blue lines indicate rivers, and shading indicates elevation.
Typification notes
The protologue of
B. alto-peruviana
cited material collected by Weddell “in Peruvia Alta sive
Bolivia
” but cited no specific collection (
de Candolle 1859: 123
). The first stage of lectotypification was carried out by
Smith & Schubert (1941a: 185)
, who cited the collection
M.H. Weddell 4556
. The same authors later cited a duplicate of this collection in Paris herbarium as the
type
, which constitutes the second stage of lectotypification (
Smith & Schubert 1944
).
Notes
This represents the first confirmed record of
B. alto-peruviana
from
Peru
.
De Candolle (1859)
was unsure of whether the
type
collection was made in
Peru
or
Bolivia
, but it was collected in
Bolivia
.
Smith & Schubert (1941a)
stated that the species “undoubtedly occurs in
Peru
” but cited no specimens.
Begonia alto-peruviana
was later included in the checklist of plants of
Peru
(
Brako & Zarucchi 1993
) but based only upon Smith & Schubert’s flora account (
Smith & Schubert 1941a
).
Identification notes
Begonia alto-peruviana
is one of three species in the stenotepala group with white to pink tepals with obtuse to rounded apices, sharing these characters with
B. brevicordata
and
B. subspinulosa
. It is best distinguished from these species by vegetative characteristics.
Begonia brevicordata
is a much less robust species and while it does reach
1 m
in height it has much more delicate stems (reaching
3 mm
wide) compared to
B. alto-peruviana
, whose mature stems are always at least
5 mm
wide. The leaves of
B. brevicordata
are much smaller (reaching 6.5 ×
4.5 cm
) than those of
B. alto-peruviana
(which reach 19 ×
10 cm
) and are much more rounded in outline (the leaves of
B. alto-peruviana
are around twice as long as wide whereas those of
B. brevicordata
are usually wider than they are long). It differs from
B. subspinulosa
in its early deciduous stipules, which are rarely seen on specimens in contrast to the conspicuous, persistent stipules of
B. subspinulosa
. While both species have serrulate (to serrate) leaf margins, the margins of
B. subspinulosa
have a distinctive, sharp appearance lacking in
B. alto-peruviana
. Finally,
B. subspinulosa
can have three or five tepals while
B. alto-peruviana
always has five.
Distribution and ecology
Known from
Peru
and
Bolivia
and within
Peru
collected in
Cuzco
and
Puno
Regions (
Fig. 35A
). Found in lower and middle montane forest at an elevation of
1152–1700 m
a.s.l.