Begonia obdeltata Gregório & E.L. Jacques, 2014

Begonia obdeltata Gregório & E.L. Jacques View in CoL , sp. nov. ( Figs. 1 – 2 View FIGURE 1 View FIGURE 2 )

Begonia obdeltata resembles B. grisea , but is easily distinguished from that species by lanceolate stipules (vs. triangular), styles 0.5–1.2 mm long (vs. 2–6 mm long) and obdeltoid fruits (vs. globular), with equal wings (vs. one wing larger than the others) ( Table 1 View TABLE 1 ).

Type:— BRAZIL. Bahia: Camacan, Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural (RPPN) Serra Bonita, 9.6 km NNW of Camacan, on the road to Jacareci and Jussari, then 6 km up to Serra Bonita , 15º23'29"S, 39º33'55"W, 21 September 2004 (fl, fr.), W.W. Thomas et al. 14222 (holotype CEPEC! GoogleMaps , isotype RB! GoogleMaps ).

Perennial herbs or subshrubs, to 1.5 m tall, monoecious, pubescent, trichomes stellate, ferruginous or gray, (8)9 – 12-armed, 0.3 – 0.5 mm long, glandular trichomes minute, sparse. Stem 1 – 1.5 cm diam. at the base, fleshy, lenticellate, pubescent when young, glabrescent; internodes 0.3 – 3 cm long. Stipules lanceolate, 0.7 – 2.3 × 0.3 – 0.7 cm, carinate, appressed, deciduous, apex acuminate, margins entire. Petioles 3.3 – 12(– 17) cm long, cylindrical; leaf-blades 4.6 – 8(– 11) × 6.8 – 10(– 15.5) cm, rounded to transversely elliptical, slightly asymmetric; base cordate; margins slightly wavy, jagged, hydathodes present on teeth; apex rounded; blade surfaces discolorous, adaxially green, abaxially pale green, pubescent, glandular trichomes sparse on both sides; venation actinodromous, veins 7 or 8, fleshy. Inflorescence cymose, 24 – 50 cm long, 70 – 180-flowered; peduncle vinaceous; primary bracts 2, caducous (not seen). Staminate flowers: bracteoles absent; pedicels 10 – 12.5 mm long; tepals 2, broadly ovate to orbicular, 3 – 4 × 3.3 – 4.5 mm, white, abaxially glabrescent, apex rounded to obtuse, margins entire; stamens 14 – 22, filaments 0.3 – 1.3 mm long, anthers 0.6 – 1 mm long, rimose, connective not prolonged. Pistillate flowers: bracteoles 2, oblong, 3 – 3.5 × 0.4 – 0.5 mm, carinate, caducous, opposite or subopposite, subtending the ovary, apex apiculate, margins irregularly denticulate; pedicel 6 – 14 mm long; ovary 4 – 9 mm long, trilocular, light green; placentation axillary, placenta entire; tepals 5, obovate to elliptic, 2 – 3.2 × 0.8 – 2 mm (an inner tepal smaller than the others), pinkish, abaxially glabrescent, apex acute to acuminate, margins entire; styles 3, 0.5 – 1.2 mm long, bifid, branches twisted, stigmatic surfaces papillose, yellow. Capsules 5.5 – 16 × 6 – 13 mm (including wings), obdeltoid, threewinged, indument of trichomes and stellate microscopic glands, glabrescent, exocarp light green when young, brown when mature, dehiscent; locules oblong, 3 – 5 mm wide, styles persistent; wings equal, 5.5 – 16 × 1.5 – 4 mm, apex rounded to acute. Seeds ca. 0.2 mm long, oblong.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes): — BRAZIL. Bahia: Arataca, Serra das Lontras National Park , 15º12'17''S, 39º22'52''W, 12 September 2011 (fl.), P. Leitman et al. 424 ( CEPEC!) GoogleMaps ; Barro Preto, Serra da Pedra Lascada , 14º46'13''S, 39º32'10''W, 10 April 2012 (st.), B.S. Gregório et al. 207 ( HUEFS!) GoogleMaps ; Camacan, RPPN Serra Bonita, 9.7 km from Camacan to Jacareci, then 6 km SW to RPPN and Embratel tower , 15º23'30"S, 39º33'55"W, 16 September 2006 (fl.), A.M. Amorim et al. 6290 ( CEPEC!) GoogleMaps ; ib., 28 October 2005 (fr.), A.M. Amorim et al. 5388 ( CEPEC!, RB!) GoogleMaps ; ib., 15º23'29"S, 39º33'57"W, 13 February 2013 (fr.), B.S. Gregório 230 ( HUEFS!, K!, RB!, SP!, SPF!, US!) GoogleMaps ; Santa Teresinha, Serra da Jiboia, ca. 4 km from Pedra Branca , 12º51'10''S, 39º28'32''W, 27 September. 2000 (fr.), L.P. Queiroz et al. 6364 ( HUEFS!, SPF!) GoogleMaps . Pernambuco: Gravatá, Harmonia farm , 6 September 1970 (fl., fr.), D. Andrade-Lima s.n. ( IPA!) ; Jaqueira, RPPN Frei Caneca, Mata do Espelho , 19 September 2004 (fr.), K. Pinheiro 13 ( UFP!) .

Etymology: —The epithet refers to the obdeltoid fruit.

Distribution and habitat: — Begonia obdeltata occurs in the States of Bahia and Pernambuco ( Fig. 3C View FIGURE 3 ), in dense montane and submontane rain forests (or in open areas), 520 – 1,050 m a.s.l. The species is predominantly rupicolous, but can occasionally be found as an epiphyte.

Conservation status: —The Atlantic rain forest has had its area reduced since the colonial period and is widely fragmented, with few relicts of primary and secondary forests in various stages of regeneration ( Câmara 2003). Many areas of southern Bahia are under intense anthropogenic pressure due to cocoa plantations, subsistence crops, pastures, burning and selective logging. This is of conservation significance because nearly 180 species of Begonia are endemic to the Atlantic forest ( Jacques 2013). However, amongst the six locations where Begonia obdeltata is found, five are within conservation units. In addition, the species has a relatively broad area of occurrence in the northeastern coast, from Bahia to Pernambuco State. Due to these mitigating circumstances, the species is classified as Least Concern (LC) for conservation purposes ( IUCN 2001).

Notes: —The most common fruit of Begonia is a loculicidal three-winged capsule, dehiscent by cracks or pores from a usually papery pericarp. The fruits provide important taxonomic characters for the genus, especially the morphology of the wings ( Jacques 2002). The fruits of B. obdeltata promptly distinguish it from related species. The stellate trichomes are also useful in identifying the species since there are only 11 species of Begonia with this type of indument in northeast Brazil. According to the sectional classification of Doorenbos et al. (1998), B. obdeltata would belong to the sect. Pritzelia ( Klotzsch 1854: 126) Candolle (1859: 137) , which is the largest section of Begonia , with more than 100 species from South America. Although the section Pritzelia is characterized by entire placenta and leaves with cystoliths, some species of the section, such as B. fellereriana Irmscher (1959: 187) , B. grisea , and B. ruhlandiana Irmscher (1953: 67) , do not have cystoliths ( Irmscher 1953), which is a characteristic also observed in B. obdeltata . Besides B. grisea (see diagnosis), B. obdeltata also resembles B. petasitifolia Brade (1971: 37) because of the leaf appearance. However, B. petasitifolia can be easily distinguished from the new species by the stems rhizomatous, habit prostrate or decumbent, stipules triangular, staminate flowers with 4 tepals, and fruits globular ( Table 1 View TABLE 1 ).