南川秋海棠 nan chuan qiu hai tang

Herbs. Rhizome 1.2-3.5 cm in diam. Stem very short. Leaves mostly arising from rhizome; stipules caducous; petiole 16-50 cm, glabrous; blade broadly oblong-ovate, asymmetric, 9-17 × 7-15 cm, both surfaces glabrous or adaxially sparsely hairy, venation palmate, 6-veined, base oblique, deeply cordate, margin remotely serrulate, very shallowly divided, 5-10-lobed; lobes triangular or broadly triangular, apex acuminate. Inflorescences 9-24 cm tall, glabrous; bracts caducous. Staminate flowers: pedicel 2-2.7 cm; tepals 4, white to pinkish, glabrous, outer 2 orbicular or broadly ovate, 2-2.5 × ca. 2 cm, inner 2 oblong, ca. 2 × 1 cm; stamens numerous; filaments 2.5-3 mm; anthers oblong-obovoid, ca. 1.8 mm, apex emarginate. Pistillate flowers: pedicel 2.7-3.1 cm; ovary obovoid, glabrous; unequally 3-winged, 2-loculed; placentae axile, bilamellate; tepals 6, white to pinkish, glabrous, outer 3 narrowly obovate, 2.1-2.3 × 1.3-1.6 cm, inner 3 broadly oblanceolate, 2.3-2.6 × 1.3-1.6 cm; styles 2, 6.2-6.6 mm, fused at base; stigmas 2-cleft, spiraled. Capsule nodding, unequally 3-winged; abaxial wing larger, elliptic to falcate, apex rounded. Fl. Jul.

● On rocks in shaded moist environments by streams or in valleys; 1000-1300 m. Chongqing (Nanchuan), Hubei (Lichuan), Sichuan (Emei Shan).

This species is similar to Begonia emeiensis but differs by its glabrous leaves.