GUWAHATI

A new species of Begonia, a genus of perennial flowering plants, has been described from Keyi Panyor district of Arunachal Pradesh.

Begonia neelamorum, the newly identified species, features in the latest issue of Taiwania, an international peer-reviewed scientific journal, alongside at least two other new members of the family Begoniaceae. They are Begonia salog from the Philippines and Begonia andariasii from Sulawesi.

Dipankar Borah, a botany teacher at Kaliabor College in central Assam’s Nagaon district, is the lead author of the study on the new species from Arunachal Pradesh. The other authors are Madhusadhan Khanal of Sikkim University, Momang Taram of Jawaharlal Nehru College in Arunachal Pradesh, and Neelam Gap, a member of the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union.

During an expedition, the researchers found the single-leaf, tuberous Begonia growing on steep, moist walls along the Keyi River at about 1,000 metres above mean sea level.

They collected a specimen in May. Morphological examination and comparison with herbarium specimens showed it was closest to Begonia prolifera but differed in several characteristics, including its ovate leaves with double-serrated margins, distinct inflorescence structure, and shorter styles.

Named after a clan

The researchers named the new-to-science Begonia species after the Neelam clan of the Nyishis, the dominant community of Keyi Panyor district. Community members helped the researchers collect the plant during the “challenging” expedition.

Locals call the plant “kobiirhopu baabrai”.

Begonia neelamorum is a small plant measuring about 10-12 cm tall, with a single, sessile, light-green leaf. Its leaves have distinctive double-serrated margins and glandular hairs.

The plant produces white male and female flowers on an inflorescence emerging from the stem apex. It is currently known from one location in the district, within an area of about 3 sq. km. 

Begonia neelamorum has become the 54th Begonia species recorded from India’s northeastern region. It has been provisionally assessed as data deficient under the International Union for Conservation of Nature criteria.

Begonia, one of the largest angiosperm genera, has about 2,200 accepted species distributed across tropical and subtropical regions worldwide.