The cryptic Begonia brevipes

-




With a country as species-rich in begonias as the Philippines, one can expect to see at least one species when hiking in places with at least some good vegetation present. However, sometimes there are cryptic ones lurking underneath bushes that would evade detection- until you see the flowers. This happened to me on two separate hikes in Nueva Vizcaya on central Luzon. In both instances, I only noticed the plants by the inflorescences held clear of the foliage, and when I walked back to scrutinize the low bushes I just passed by, lo and behold- more of the begonias!


The capsules of B. brevipes have rounded bases and truncated at the end.


 Begonia brevipes was originally collected and described from Pamplona, Cagayan on northern Luzon, based on a collection by Maximo Ramos in 1909. Dr. Rosario Rubite, of the Philippine National Herbarium, stated that the species is endemic to Cagayan only. Dr. Rubite obviously hasn't seen yet the central Luzon populations. This taxon belongs to the species-rich section Petermannia, which consists of shrubby plants with upright growth habits, unlike those from section Baryandra, which are mostly plants with creeping rhizomes.  The leaves of B. brevipes are green to dark green overlaid with dark gray spots which in some individuals are more like smudges and practically cover the entire leaf surface, save for the veining. In the two populations I have come across, it seems that the species favors very sheltered spots with dense undergrowth. In road embankments, they coexist with coarse grasses and ferns. In habitats such as these, the leaves are noticeably lighter in color.




The following two photos are from plants found on road banks:





Small plants are unlike the mature ones in coloration; it appears that the dark coloration eventually breaks up into spots as the plants grow.




Begonias, of course, have non-toxic leaves and there are animals that do eat these plants. The cryptic coloration of B. brevipes, as well as its habit of squeezing itself among other plants, may be a protective measure to conceal it from herbivores, but such ecological preference has a price to pay: when in bloom, the plants would be practically invisible from potential pollinators. Begonia brevipes solved this by bearing conspicuously white flowers. Genius.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Plants and places: a list of places in the Philippines that were named after plants

-
Image
Many place names within the Philippines were taken from plants, historical figures, or from water features or references to it. However, the former appears to be much more widespread and perhaps reflect the early people's affinity with such plants, perhaps as sources of folk medicine, food, utilities, or simply as landmarks. Unfortunately, most of these place names no longer bear the plants so honored, and the meaning of such names have been largely lost to obscurity. Our so-called 'progress' has pulled us farther and farther away from nature: the nonstop road widening projects during the last five years have wreaked havoc on not a few roadside trees. A Facebook post shows the last and only known Acacia confusa - a Philippine endemic- along the Olongapo-Bugallon Road in the western Luzon province of Zambales that is slated for cutting. Some names are contentious, such as 'Balicbalic' and 'Vigan'. Still, many of these place names reflect a place's topogr
Read more

Distinguishing Alocasia boyceana, A. heterophylla, and A. ramosii, and some words about asking for plant identification

-
Image
  In the Philippines, three commonly encountered Alocasia species are frequently mixed with one another that identification of plants posted in social media has resulted in a muddied concept of what constitutes what, with most plants getting labeled as ' Alocasia heterophylla ' even though practically no one can elucidate why he thinks it is that species. More on that later. Still, admit I should that I, too, was confused not too long ago until I got fed up with my own ignorance and decided to undo it once and for all. I now show thee the path to thy enlightenment. The main aim of this article is to allow you to reliably identify which is which. I am going to keep this ultra-simplified, so I am not going to talk about floral morphologies. People usually don't catch them in flower anyway and very few have the inclination to save dissected inflorescence samples in an alcohol solution for later reference. The other aim, well, we'll get to that later. Alocasia heterophylla
Read more

Phalaenopsis: a photographic compendium of Philippine species

-
Image
The genus  Phalaenopsis  requires no introduction, and its species, in their myriad variations and color forms, are still much sought around the world even after more than a century of introduction. And for this post, I present to you the Philippine species which are among the most spectacular in the genus. Phalaenopsis amabilis Phalaenopsis amabilis labellum Phalaenopsis amabilis , albinistic form Phalaenopsis aphrodite subsp. aphrodite Phalaenopsis aphrodite subsp. formosana Phalaenopsis intermedia Phalaenopsis intermedia, red lip Phalaenopsis intermedia, yellow lip Phalaenopsis intermedia, pink form Phalaenopsis philippinensis Phalaenopsis sanderiana Phalaenopsis sanderiana Phalaenopsis schilleriana Phalaenopsis stuartiana Phalaenopsis stuartiana fma.  nobilis Phalaenopsis  x  veitchiana Phalaenopsis equestris Phalaenopsis  equestris  fma . alba A
Read more