Begonia pasighatensis - Pasighat Begonia

Pasighat Begonia is a perennial herb with stem creeping with erect tip, symmetrically branched, olive to red brown, 12-40 cm x 0.4-0.7 cm. It is easily distinguished from other species by its swollen, spherical ovary with two wings reduced to ridges and a long, pointing upper wing. Leaves are 6-15; blade 5-10 x 2.5-6 cm, ovate-heart-shaped sometimes palmate, basifixed, more or less asymmetric, base round-heart-shaped, margin fringed with hairs, minutely toothed, tip pointed-tapering. Flowers are borne at branch-ends or in leaf-axils in upper leaf axils, in clusters carried on flower-cluster-stalk maroon-brownish green. Male flowers have tepals 4, pinkish white, margin entire, outer 2 tepals elliptic to ovate, 0.5-1.1 x 0.5-0.8 cm, sparsely red hairy outside, inner 2 tepals narrowly elliptic to inverted-lanceshaped, hairless, 0.4-1.0 x 0.3-0.6 cm; stamens 50-90. Female flowers have flower-stalk greenish red, 2-3 cm, tepals 5, unequal, white, hairless on both sides, ovate to elliptic-ovate, 0.41 cm x 0.3-0.7 cm, entire; ovary 3-4 mm long, greenish red, velvet-hairy, 3 winged, swollen to a spherical body. Capsule is 3 cm long, larger upper wing developed into a beak, up to 2 cm; lateral wings reduced to ridges, up to 0.3 cm; locules 2. Pasighat Begonia is fund in Arunachal Pradesh, in the East Siang District. Flowering: June-August.