Begonia kinahimiae Rimi, 2015

Repin, Rimi, Sang, Julia, Kiew, Ruth & Mujih, Handry, 2015, Eleven new species of Begonia (Begoniaceae) from the Crocker Range, Sabah, Malaysia, Phytotaxa 208 (1), pp. 1-20 : 13-14

8. Begonia kinahimiae Rimi , spec. nov. ( Figure 9 )

Sect. Petermannia

Similar to B. bosangiana in its creeping habit, in its hairiness, its small, broadly ovate leaves, racemose inflorescences and small pendent fruits but it differs in its thin, green laminas (not thinly fleshy and bronze-coloured above and deep magenta beneath as in B. bosangiana ), large bracts ca. 9 × 4 mm and bracteoles ca. 4 × 2 mm (not with small bracts ca. 3 × 2 mm and bracteoles 2.5 × 1–2 mm) and narrow capsule with wings 3 mm wide (not 6–9 mm wide).

Type:— MALAYSIA. Borneo. Sabah. Tenom District: Crocker Range Park, Melalap , Ulu Membakut , Camp 1 and 2 (summit), 27 April 2011, Kinahim et al. SNP 24836 (holotype SNP!; isotype SAN!) .

Creeping begonia, rooting at the nodes. Stem hispid, ca. 16 cm long, 1.5–2 mm thick; internodes 1.1–2.1 cm long. Stipules pale green, pubescent, lanceolate, ca. 6 × 5 mm, margin entire, apex setose, seta ca. 0.1 mm long, caducous. Leaves alternate, distant, oblique, held horizontally; petiole red-brown, densely hispid, 1.4–3.8 cm long, slightly grooved above; lamina plain pale green, thin when fresh or dried, matt, bristly all over the upper surface, bristles red to 2 mm long, beneath hairs less dense and shorter, broadly ovate, asymmetrical, 4.8 × 3.9–5.6, broad side 2.1– 3.4 cm wide, base subequal, rounded, basal lobes 0.4–0.6 cm long, margin ciliate, doubly dentate, teeth 0.05–0.1 mm long, apex acuminate, acumen 0.5–0.9 cm long; venation palmate-pinnate, veins concolorous, 2 on each side of midrib, 1 in basal lobe, above with bristly hairs, beneath densely hairy, slightly prominent above, prominent beneath. Inflorescences protogynous, axillary in upper leaf axils, sparsely hairy, erect, racemose, rachis ca. 5 cm long, peduncle ca. 2.7 cm long. Bracts pinkish white, broadly lanceolate, ca. 9 × 4 mm, margin entire, caducous; bracteoles whitish, narrowly lanceolate, ca. 4 × 2 mm, margin entire, caducous. Female flower not seen. Male flower: pedicel reddish, ca. 8 mm long; tepals 4, red tinged white, elliptic or oval, margin entire, apex acute, glabrous, outer tepals, ca. 6 × 5 mm; inner tepals ca. 6 × 2 mm; stamens ca. 22, cluster globose, sessile; filaments yellow, ca. 0.5 mm long; anthers yellow, obovate, ca. 8 × 3 mm, apex emarginate. Capsule pendent on a fine thread-like pedicel ca. 0.7 cm long; fruit ca. 0.5 × 0.8 cm, glabrous, locules 3, wings equal, rounded, ca. 3 mm wide, thinly fibrous, dehiscing between locule and wing. Seed barrel-shaped, ca. 0.3 × 0.2 mm, columnar cells more than the length of seed.

Distribution: — MALAYSIA. Borneo. Sabah. Tenom District. Endemic in Crocker Range Park.

Habitat: —Lower montane forest in primary forest, growing in shade.

Etymology: —Named for Kinahim Sampang, research assistant in Sabah Parks, who first collected this species.

Additional specimens examined: — MALAYSIA.Borneo. Sabah. Tenom District: Crocker Range Park – Melalap, Camp 1 and 2 (summit), Yabanus et al. SNP 20120 (SNP).

Figures

FIGURE 9. Begonia kinahimiae. A. Habit with creeping stem; B. Open female flower; All photos by Kinahim Sampang.