Begonia galeanoi Jara, 2021

Jara-Muñoz, Orlando Adolfo, Richardson, James E. & Zabala-Rivera, Juan Carlos, 2021, Five new species and three new varieties of Begonia section Casparya endemic to Colombia, Phytotaxa 525 (4), pp. 258-280 : 263-265

Begonia galeanoi Jara , sp. nov. Figs. 2 & 5

Type:— COLOMBIA. Boyacá: municipio Pajarito, entre el corregimiento Corinto y la vereda La Sabana, 5.4407°N, 72.7203°W, 1750 m, 21 March 2014, A . Jara 2729 (holotype JBB!, isotype ANDES!) .

Diagnosis:—Similar to Begonia cornuta but differing from this species by the presence of a long column on the fruits (12–16 mm long), vs. no column in B. cornuta , and the glabrous veins on the lower surface of the leaves (vs. pubescent in B. cornuta ).

Description: —Herb or subshrub, to 1 m high. Stems glabrous, green, internodes 3.6–5.6 cm long, 1.3–3.4 mm thick. Stipules caducous, glabrous, pale green, oblong, 7.9–8.6 × 2.4–3.1 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse. Petiole glabrous, green, 15.6–39 mm long; Lamina of the leaf oblique to the petiole, thin coriaceous, asymmetric, ovate or oblong, 7.4–13.2 × 1.9–4.7 cm, base obtuse or acute on one side and lobulated on the other side, margin doubly serrate, apex acuminate, lower surface pale green, glabrous, upper surface dark green, with some hairs between each pair of secondary veins, venation pinnate, 6–8 veined on each side. Inflorescence bisexual, erect, dichasial, 2–4 times bifurcate, ending in an umbel-like contracted cincinnus with 2–4 staminate and 1 pistillate flowers, protandrous; peduncle glabrous, reddish-green, 3.4–7.0 (16.3) cm long, bracts deciduous, reflexed, glabrous, reddish or pale green, oblong, 4.3–6.7 × 1.8–3.8 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse. staminate flowers: pedicels glabrous, 8.3–13.1 mm long; tepals 4, spreading, outer 2 glabrous, white, ovate, 8.2–13.1 × 2.9–14.8 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse, inner 2 glabrous, white, oblong, 6.3–9.5 × 2.4–10.8 mm, margin entire, apex shortly acuminate; stamens 8–13, projecting, filaments yellowish-white, 0.2–0.4 mm long, free, anthers yellow, oblong, 0.5–1.8 × 0.3–0.5 mm long, connectives short projecting. Pistillate flowers: pedicels to 1.9 mm long; bracteoles similar to bracts, 1.9–2.8 × 0.9–1.9 mm, apex obtuse to short acuminate; ovary glabrous, pale green to reddish-green, body turbinate, equally 3-horned, ca. 12.5 × 20.4 mm, placenta simple, bearing ovules on both surfaces; tepals 5, subequal, free, outer 3 obovate, inner 2 oblong, 13.2–14.9 × 12.8–15.3 mm, margin dentate in the outer ones, apex rounded; styles 3, free, irregularly branched, yellow, 6.9–7.2 mm long, stigmatic papillae covering the tips. Fruiting pedicel to 17 mm long. Fruit a capsule, body and horns like the ovary, to 13.9 × 22.9 mm, green pale to reddish-green, drying maroon, apical column 12–16 mm long.

Etymology:—This species honors the Colombian botanist Gloria Amparo Galeano (1958-2016), who was an outstanding specialist in the systematics and ethnobotany of palms. She also made important contributions to knowledge of the Colombian flora, mainly in the Choco region, and was director of the Instituto de Ciencias Naturales (ICN) from 2003 to 2006. In her thirty years on the staff of the ICN, Dr. Galeano collected hundreds of specimens, including one of the first collections of this new species of Begonia .

Distribution and habitat:—This species is restricted to the eastern basin of the eastern Colombian Cordillera, and has been collected in two distant localities in the Departments of Boyacá and Cundinamarca. Populations have been found in cloud forest, from 1700 to 2500 m, in well conserved and shadow zones, and close to waterfalls or streams. There are no herbarium specimens of the population from Cundinamarca, however living material is available at the Bogota Botanic Garden, accession number 1941130028.

Conservation status:― We included this species in the category of vulnerable (VU B2a,b(iii)), according to criterion B, because it has an EOO estimated to be less than 20000 km 2 (88.4 km 2), the AOO is less than 2000 km 2 (16 km 2), and it is known from no more than 10 locations (criteria B2a), and grows in a region of continuing habitat reduction (criteria B2b(iii)), as evidenced by several studies in the Colombian eastern cordillera (e.g. Etter and Villa, 2000; Armenteras et al. 2003).

Notes:—This new species was frequently misidentified in herbaria as B. cornuta , to which it is closely related, as showed by the ITS evidence in Jara et al. (2019). In this phylogeny B. galeanoi was temporarily designated “ Begonia sp. nov. 4.”. Both species can be easily distinguished using the diagnosis presented here.

Additional specimens examined:— COLOMBIA. Boyacá: arriba de Pajarito, en Rancherías , kilómetro 307, unos 1700 m, 24–28 February 1954, J. Idrobo 1604 ( COL) ; municipio Pajarito, inspección de Corinto , 2200 m, 11 October 1967, G. Lozano, F. Díaz, & S. Díaz, 842 ( COL) ; Pajarito , 5.3°N, 72.678°W, 2000 m, 5 June 1997, H. Mendoza 3223 ( FMB) ; ibid. 3224 ( FMB) ; municipio Pajarito, inspección de Corinto , 2100–2200 m, March 1980, O. Rangel 2317 ( COL) ; carretera de Pajarito, km 88, quebrada La Rocha , 2000 m, 17 Febrary 1971, C. Sastre 731 ( COL) ; carretera a Casanare, entre Sogamoso y Pajarito , km 85, 2150 m, 12 December 1969, L. Uribe 6327 ( COL, MO) .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Begonia galeanoi Jara.A) Branch, B) Leaf from above, C) Staminate flower seen from above, D) Pistillate flower, E) Anther, F) Cross section of the fruit, G) Fruit from below, H) Fruit from above. Based on A. Jara 2729, by O. Bernal.

FIGURE 5. Distribution of Begonia diegoi, Begonia galenoi, Begonia kalbreyeri var. oquidensis, and Begonia mamapachensis.