Species
B. gemmipara
Photos
5 photos
Identity
- Genus
- Begonia
- Name
- B. gemmipara
- Author
- J. D. Hooker & Thomson, Il. Himal. Pl.
- Publication Date
- 1855
- Place
- Sikkim
- Habitat
- In sylvis densis Himalayre orientalis temperate; Sikkim, alt. 7-10,000 ped. Fl. tempore pluvioso
- Country
- India, Himalaya
- Region
- Asia
- Section
- Putzeysia
- Plant Type
- Tuberous
- Reference
- Il. Himal. Pl.:pl. 14. 1855.; JGSL9/08 http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/14650
- Article References
- Beg 16:122. 1949
Plant
- Description
- Caulescens, dioica, glaberrirna, radice tuberosa, caule sirnplici, stipulis brevibus oblongis obtusis, foliis petiolatis ovatis triangulari-ovatis oblongisve varie inrequaliter palmatilobis subintegrisve pagina superiore interdum subpilosa basi cordato-bilobis, lobis acutis grosse irregulariter serratis nervis primariis palmatis, stipulis ad axillas gemmiferis, pedunculis axillaribus brevibus 1-2-floris supra medium bibracteatis, bracteis amplis orbiculatis concavis, perianthii segrnentis orbiculatis obtusis concavis, filamentis brevibus basi in columnam brevem coadunatis, antheris obovatis truncatis, ovario 3-loculari 3-alato alis superne in cornua erecta obtusa dilatatis, placentis alte bifidis, stylis obcuneatis, stigmatibus truncatis bilobisve. Habitat: In sylvis densis Himalayre orientalis temperate; Sikkim, alt. 7-10,000 ped. Fl. tempore pluvioso. A very singular species, without much beauty to recommend it, but remarkable for the development of bodies in the axils of the leaves of both the male and female individuals, which are quite unlike any other organs of the plant, and whose exact name I am unable to discover. I first found the species near Dorjiling, in the autumn of 1848, but it appeared to be rare, and some observations which I hd begun upon the functions of the axillary bodies were left unfinished when I had to leave that station for the interior. I again found the same plant when travelling in the interior of Sikkim, in August, 1849, growing at the foot of Fir-trees (Abies Smithiana and Brunoniana), in the Lachoong valley, at 8-9000 feet elevation, but the specimens were much smaller than the Dorjiling ones, and the leaves covered with silver spots, like those of the common B. argyrostigma. In almost every individual a clavate, truncate, or wedge-shaped body grew close to the petiole of one or more of the leaves, or rather from the axil of one of the stipules; it consisted of a quadrate, club-shaped, fleshy mass, surrounded with imbricating orbicular bracts, and was divided at the top into four, eight, or twelve cup-shaped compartments; with much regularity. In these were seated a variable number (but generally four, or a multiple of four) of oblong, green, fleshy, terete bodies, or gemmules, with narrowed tapering pedicels, sunk into a common receptacle; each had two bracteolae at its base, and a few minute terminal scales at the very apex. I examined very many of them microscopically, but found no contents beyond cellular tissue, full of chlorophyll grains; amongst Mr. Cathcart's drawings, however, there is a transverse section of one (fig. 9 of the accompanying Plate) with five enclosed cavities or bodies. In the very many specimens that I examined, I found no material deviation from the above type of structure, and none at all that suggested any explanation of their nature or origin. Their position, being axillary to the stipule and not to the petiole, is curious, as is their being equally prevalent in the male and female individuals, and both in the large succulent specimens from the damp climate of Dorjiling, and in those from the much drier and more alpine woods of Lachoong, in the interior of the province. The tendency to a quaternary arrangement of the parts is also curious, and suggests their being more analogous to the male flower (which is always tetramerous) than to the female. The two bracteolae at the base of each of the contained ovoid bodies would further suggest the reference of these to modified flowers, and the scales at their summit to their being imperfect inferior ovaria, with undeveloped perianth and stigmata; but I can only offer these observations as rude analogies, nor, until their functions are discovered, is it probable that much light will be thrown on their relationship to other parts of the plant. I traced their growth from a very early stage, when the scales closed over the ovoid bodies, but at no period did I discover any point of structure that explained their origin or nature. Amongst the dried specimens, I have found some with the female flowers monstrous; these have no inferior ovary, but two stigmata, which are dilated and excavated at the base, and bear numerous cellular papillae, resembling imperfect and very deformed ovules scattered over the surface of the concavity, and attached to its margins. The petals are also sometimes deformed, and bear similar papillae on their inner faces. These malformations appear to exhibit a tendency in the perianth to become inferior, or rather in the flowers to develop superior ovaria; but the membranous nature of the parts prevents their being satisfactorily analyzed in specimens that have been dried. The Begonia have probably a great tendency to become viviparous, as is the case with many other plants of very succulent tissues. Thus, Von Martius describes (in the Transactions of the Royal Bavarian Society of Munich; see also Hook. Journ. Bot. iv. 206) a species under the name of B. phyllomaniaca, which develops thousands of leaflets on its stem and branches, and these, on being planted, become new individuals. This fact, however, seems analogous to the well-known property of Bryophyllum a:J?-d other plants, and is of a totally different nature from that presented by B. gemmipara. The Begonia gemmipara cannot be called an ornamental plant; I have nevertheless ventured to introduce it into this work, as being one of the most curious and anomalous that I met with in Mr. Cathcart's collection of drawings; and in point of interest and novelty it is well deserving the attention of every lover of plants.
- Plant Height
- Low
Lineage
Parents
No parentage recorded.
Descendants
No recorded descendants.
Culture
No populated fields in this section.