Begonia hemsleyana Hook.f.

 Begonia hemsleyana Hook.f., Bot. Mag. 125: t. 7685 (1899).

Begonia hemsleyana Hook.f.; Photos Hoang Thanh Son

Vietnamese name: 

Thu hải đường Chưởng diệp 

Chinese name: 

掌叶秋海棠 zhang ye qiu hai tang

English name:

Latin name: 

Begonia hemsleyana Hook.f.

Family: 

Begoniaceae 

Synonym name:

Begonia hemsleyana var. hemsleyana

Begonia hemsleyana var. kwangsiensis Irmsch.

Description: 

Herbs, 30-80 cm tall. Rhizomes short, stout, 3-11 mm in diam. Stems hairy. Leaves cauline, or basal and cauline; stipules ovate-lanceolate, 5-21 × 4-10 mm, abaxially hispidulous, apex acuminate and cuspidate; petiole 8-14 cm, sparsely hispidulous, subglabrous, or glabrous; blade palmately compound, leaflets 7(or 8), oblong-lanceolate or obovate-lanceolate 6-12 × 1.9-4 cm, abaxially sparsely hirsute, adaxially sparsely hirsute, base cuneate or broadly cuneate, margin remotely serrulate, apex acuminate or long caudate-acuminate. Inflorescences 3-18 cm, subglabrous; peduncle 4-7.5 cm; bracts lanceolate, 1.3-1.7 cm, outside and margin hairy, apex acuminate and cuspidate. Staminate flowers: pedicel 8-32 mm; tepals 4, pink, outer 2 broadly ovate or suborbicular, 1-1.8 × 0.8-1.7 cm, abaxially villous, inner 2 ovate, 5-16 × 4-12 mm; stamens numerous; filaments ca. 5 mm; anthers ovoid-globose, ca. 8 mm. Pistillate flowers: tepals 5, unequal, largest broadly ovate, 9-11 × 9-11 mm, abaxially villous, smallest orbicular, 9-12 × 8-11 mm; ovary glabrous, 2-loculed; placentae axile, bilamellate; styles 2, ca. 4.1 mm, fused at base; stigmas 2-cleft, spiraled. Capsule nodding, obovoid-globose or ellipsoid, 10-13 × 5-7 mm, unequally 3-winged; abaxial wing falcate, 1.5-2.1 cm, apex rounded; lateral wings ca. 3 mm. 2n = 20, 22*.

Flower and fruid season: 

Flower December, fruid. June.

Distribution: 

This species is distributed in China (Guangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan) and VietNam. In VietNam, found in  Phù Hoạt (Nghệ An)

Ecological: 

Forests, valleys, shaded moist environments; sea level to 1000-1300 m

Reference: 

- theplantlist.org

- efloras.org

- ipni.org