PHILIPPINE SPECIES OF BEGONIA. 
395 
buted at low altitudes in the Philippines, growing in the habitat ascribed by 
Kamel to his Acetosa nigritarum. Dryander, 9 who examined Kamel’s drawing 
preserved in the British Museum, considered it to be allied to Begonia malabarica. 
Steudel’s name, I believe, constitutes a valid publication, and being the earliest 
one for the species is here adopted. 
I have been unable to find any good characters by which Begonia merrillii 
Warb. can be distinguished from the above species ; cotypes of both B. merrillii 
Warb., and B. rhombicarpa A. DC. are in the Herbarium of the Bureau of 
Science, and although the specimens are not quite identical, the differences are, 
I consider, too slight to warrant the separation of the two as distinct species. 
Begonia rhombicarpa A. DC. var. lobbii A. DC. 1. c., is distinguished from 
the typical form of the species by its slightly larger flowers, but working from 
the description alone, I have been unable definitely to refer any of the above 
specimens to it with certainty; the variety is undoubtedly included in my con- 
ception of the species Begonia nigritarum Steud. 
Widely known as pingol bato and as lingat. 
Endemic. 
39. Begonia acuminatissima sp. nov. 
Herba subglabra, foliis longe petiolatis, usque ad 11 cm longis, oblique 
oblongo-ovatis vel anguste ovatis, basi inaequilateraliter cordatis, apice 
sensim angustatis, longe acute acuminatis, margine leviter irregulariter 
lobatis; floribus .1.5 cm diametro, bracteolis parvis, ovatis; capsulis sub- 
aequaliter 3-alatis, 8 ad 10 mm longis, basi leviter retusis, apice acutis vel 
obtusis, alis plus minus angustatis, subacutis vel obtusis, 5 ad 6 mm 
latis. 
A subglabrous herb, the stems prostrate, creeping, glabrous or nearly 
so, the stipules brown, oblong-ovate, acuminate, less than 1 cm long. 
Leaves obliquely oblong-ovate or narrowly ovate, membranaceous, 7 to 
II cm long, 3 to 6 cm wide, glabrous, or the nerves beneath, in young 
leaves, slightly hairy, the base inequilaterally cordate, the lobes rounded, 
the sinus shallow, acute, the apex gradually narrowed and rather long 
and sharply acuminate, the margins with several to many small, irregular, 
broadly triangular, acute lobes, none of the lobes, exceeding 1 cm in 
length, and all broader than long, the base palmately 7- or 8-nerved ; 
petioles 8 to 18 cm long, at first with few, scattered, brown hairs, ulti- 
mately nearly glabrous. Inflorescence about as long as the leaves, dicho- 
tomously branched above. Flowers pink and white, the staminate ones 
1.5 cm in diameter. Sepals 2, broadly elliptic, rounded, 7.5 mm long, 
6 mm wide, with about 8 faint nerves. Petals 2, narrowly obovate, 6 
mm long, 4 mm wide, the apex broad, rounded, base narrowed, faintly 
5- or 6-nerved. Stamens about 35; anthers 1 mm long, truncate; fila- 
ments 0.5 to 1 mm long. Bracteoles broadly ovate, 1.5 mm long and 
wide,, obscurely blunt-acuminate. Capsules 8 to 10 mm long, 15 mm 
wide, the base somewhat refuse, the apex acute or blunt, the wings 
9 Trans. Linn. Soc. 1 (1791) 171. 
