x.c,i Merrill: New or Noteworthy Philippine Plants, XI 45 



recently received a fruiting specimen of Lamark's species from Malacca, 

 and consider the Philippine plant to be specifically identical with the 

 Malacca one. The genus is new to the Philippines. 



BEGONIACEAE 



BEGONIA Linnaeus 

 BEGONIA ALBA sp. nov. § Diploclinium. 



Herba parce bruneo-setosa praesertim partibus junioribus; 

 foliis longe petiolatis, subreniformibus vel subrotundatis, inte- 

 gris vel leviter undulatis, basi profunda subaequaliter cordatis, 

 palmatim 7- vel 9-nerviis; floribus masculinis paucis, albis, cir- 

 citer 2.5 cm diametro, bracteis orbicularibus, deciduis; stami- 

 nibus circiter 20. 



A succulent herb, the rhizome creeping, rather slender, gla- 

 brous or nearly so, the stipules persistent only at the growing tip, 

 sparingly brown-setose, ovate, acuminate, submembranaceous, 

 about 1.5 cm long. Petioles up to 30 cm in length, glabrous, or 

 when young with few, long, scattered, brown, setose hairs. 

 Leaves chai'taceous when dry, pale-brownish, orbicular or sub- 

 reniform, up to 15 cm long and 17 cm wide, entire or the 

 margins slightly undulate, very broadly rounded, subequilateral, 

 the base deeply and subequally cordate, the sinus very narrow, 

 up to 4 cm deep, the basal lobes very broadly rounded, the upper 

 surface glabrous, the lower with long scattered, brown hairs 

 when young, becoming glabrous or nearly so, the margins dis- 

 tinctly brown-setose; nerves 7 or 9, radiating from the base, 

 prominent, forked, the lateral ones above the base 2, rarely 3 

 pairs; petioles up to 30 cm in length, brown-setose when young, 

 becoming glabrous. Scape rather slender, 20 cm long or less, 

 the staminate flowers few, subumbellately cymose at the apex of 

 the peduncle, the primary branches 2 or 3, 1 cm long or less. 

 Bracts prominent, orbicular or subreniform, membranaceous, 

 deciduous, white, about 6 mm in diameter, two subtending each 

 flower. Staminate flowers: Sepals 2, elliptic to elliptic-orbi- 

 cular, broadly rounded, about 12 mm long. Petals 2, oblong- 

 oblanceolate, about 10 mm long, narrowed below. Stamens 

 about 20; filaments 1 mm long; anthers narrowly obovoid, as 

 long as the filaments. Pistillate flowers and fruits not seen. 



Luzon, Subprovince of Ifugao, Mount Polls, Bur. Sd 19963 McGregor, 

 February, 1913. 



A very characteristic species, at once distinguishable by its nearly 

 equilateral, entire, deeply and subequally cordate leaves, and by its few, 

 comparatively large, white flowers. In vegetative characters it resembles 

 Begonia suborbiculata Merr., of Palawan, but is entirely different from 

 that species in its floral characters. 



