美丽秋海棠 mei li qiu hai tang

Begonia calophylla Irmscher, Mitt. Inst. Allg. Bot. Hamburg 6: 351. 1927, not Gilg ex Engler (1921).

Herbs, rhizomatous. Rhizomes elongate, 5-8 mm in diam. Stems short. Leaves mostly basal; stipules caducous; petiole 13-26 cm, rusty villous; blade broadly ovate to oblong, slightly asymmetric, 10-20 × 9-19(-21) cm, sparsely pubescent, venation palmate, 6(-8)-veined, base slightly obliquely cordate, margin remotely serrate, distinctly lobed, divided to ca. 1/2 of leaf length; lobes caudate-acuminate at apex; lobules present. Inflorescences 17-27 cm tall, sparsely rusty villous; bracts oblong-ovate, 4-5 mm, villous, apex acute. Staminate flowers: pedicel 4-4.5 cm; tepals 4, pinkish, outer 2 broadly ovate, 2-2.7 cm, outside villous, inner 2 obovate-oblong, 2-2.6 × ca. 1 mm; stamens numerous; filaments fused at base; anthers oval. Pistillate flowers: pedicel 4-5 cm; ovary oblong, ca. 10 × 5 mm, glabrous; placentae axile, bilamellate; tepals 5, unequal, obovate to broadly ovate, 2-2.5 × 0.7-2.2 cm, outside villous; styles 2, fused to halfway; stigmas 2-cleft, spiraled. Capsule nodding, ca. 1.2 × 9 mm, unequally 3-winged; abaxial wing larger, triangular. Fl. Jul-Aug.

● Forests or scrubby vegetation, moist environments by streams; 300-800 m. Jiangxi.

Very similar to Begonia pedatifida, this species can only be distinguished by its shallowly divided leaves and cordate leaf bases.