[Botany • 2014] Begonia hosensis • A New Species (sect. Reichenheimia, Begoniaceae) from Sarawak, Malaysia

Begonia hosensis C. W. Lin & C.-I Peng, sp. nov. Sect. Reichenheimia

ABSTRACT

 Begonia hosensis, a new species of sect. Reichenheimia from Sarawak, Malaysia is here described and illustrated. Begonia hosensis resembles B. andersonii, differing in the stipule prominently keeled and female flower 5- (vs. 4-) tepaled. Ecologically, the two species are also separable: B. hosensis occurs on granitic cliffs ca. 400 km east of Kuching, the only known locality of B. andersonii, a limestone species.

KEY WORDS: Begoniaceae, Begonia hosensis, Borneo, Malaysia, new species, Sarawak, sect. Reichenheimia.

Distribution and ecology: Begonia hosensis is endemic to southwestern Hose Mountains, Sarawak, Borneo (Figure 3). It is a lithophyte on wet granite cliffs in evergreen Dipterocarp forest, associated with mosses in rock crevices, at 480－590 m altitude.

Vernacular name: Hose Mountain Begonia

Etymology: The specific epithet is derived from the type locality, Hose Mountains, in central Sarawak, Borneo.

Che-Wei Lin, Shih-Wen Chung and Ching-I Peng. 2014. Begonia hosensis (sect. Reichenheimia, Begoniaceae), A New Species from Sarawak, Malaysia.

Taiwania. 59(4): 326– 330. DOI: 10.6165/tai.2014.59.4.326