1952] 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN ECUADOR 



37 



petiolis 5—20 cm. longis, stipulis mox deciduis, ignotis; pedunculis ad 11 cm. 

 longis, inflorescentiis ample laxeque cymosis, multifloris; bracteis persist entibus, 

 ovatis, acutis, infimis 7 mm. longis; tepalis masculinis 4, rubris, 8—10 mm. 

 longis, obtusis, integris, exterioribus latissime ovatis, interioribus oblongis; 

 staminibus paucis, liberis, antheris oblongis, apice truncatis, quam filamentis 

 paulo longioribus; floribus femineis persenilibus et in parte delapsis solum cog- 

 nitis sed cicatribus indicatis tepalis 5 praeditis, tepalis verisimiliter aequalibus, 

 obovatis, obtusis, 14 mm. longis, integris; stylis 3, basi breviter connatis, pro- 

 funde bifidis, stigmatibus linearibus, spiraliter tortis, placentis integris; capsula 

 subglobosa, 1 cm. diametro, valde inaequaliter alata, ala maxima late ovata, 

 ascendente, 3 cm c longa reliquis marginiformibus; seminibus cylindricis, apice 

 subtruncatis et quadrato-reticulatis, medio reticulis anguste oblongis praeditis 



Santiago-Zamora ("Oriente"): climbing, flowers deep red; ridge ascending into 

 central Cutucu, Cordillera Cutucu, ca. 2° 40' S., 78° W., 4,400-4,700 ft., Nov. 

 17-Dec. 5, 1944, Camp E-1143. High climber, leaves dark green above, reddish 

 below, perianth parts and fruit bright crimson; ridge just south and west of Rfo 

 Itzintza, Cordillera Cutucu, ca. 2° 40' S., 78° W., 4,500-5,500 ft c , Nov 17-Dec. 

 5, 1944, Camp E-1317 (type). 



At first glance Begonia aeranthos appears to be an oversize specimen of B. 

 glabra, but the peltate leaves and falcate-ascending capsule-wings contradict 

 that identity. Further the linear spiral stigmas of 8. aeranthos bar it from section 

 Pritzelia where B. glabra is. In fact, B. aeranthos does not fit any of the sections 

 used by Irmscher in the Pflanzenreich, and requires either the broader definition 

 of Pritzelia or the making of a new section. 



Begonia albomaculata C. DC. 



El Oro: plants erect, 0.5 m., perianth segments pink; in Moro-Moro region 

 (about 21 miles west of Portovelo), in dense rain forest, 3,400—4,200 ft., E-618 a 



Begonia buddleiaefolia A. DC. 



Santiago-Zamora ("Oriente"): to 0.3 m., flowers red, leaves reddish below; 

 on rocks, between Hacienda Chontal and Santa Elena, 3,400-4,600 ft., eastern 

 slope of the Cordillera, valley of the Rios Negro and Chupianza (on the trail from 

 Sevilla de Oro to Mendez), E-819. Plants 0.4 m , perianth crimson, stamens and 

 style yellow, wings on fruit crimson, leaves very rugose; ridge between Rios 

 Ontza and Chupiasa, Cordillera Cutucu, ca. 2° 40' S., 78° W., 4,300-4,700 ft., 

 E-1189. Leaves rugulose, yellow-green above, center pale green below, margin 

 red, flowers greenish-yellow, with red tinges, structures becoming red in fruit; El 

 Partidero, between Rios Paute and Negro, eastern slope of the Cordillera, valley 

 of the Rios Negro and Chupianza (on the trail from Sevilla de Oro to Mendez), 

 2,100-3,100 ft., E-1536. 



Begonia erythrocarpa A. DC. 



Chimborazo-Canar Border (western escarpment): plants scrambling in brush, to 

 4 m. long, often essentially leafless at this season (July 6—9), leaves often with 

 small cornucopia-like processes above vein-junction (leaves taken from non- 

 flowering plants and branches), perianths of both flowers white, ruffled, outer 

 pair of segments often pink -flushed; between Santa Rosa (8,300 ft.) and Joyagshi 

 (9,000 ft.), E-4023. Chimborazo: plants supported in shrubs, on soil, or in fog- 

 forest sometimes epiphytic, plants often much branched near base, with fibrous 

 roots, and branches to 5 m. long, leaves deep green, nitid above, pale below, 

 perianth-segments ruffled, white, outermost with pink flush, ovary with one large 

 wing and 2 marginal and 3 vascular ridges; canon of the Rfo Chanchan, about 5 



