B. tenuibracteata

Culture

Endangered Status

Endangered ENC1

Original Botanical Description or Link to

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0194877: Monoecious rhizomatous herb. Rhizome creeping, 3−10 cm or longer, 3−7 mm thick, internodes very congested, to 3 mm long. Stipules persistent, pale yellowish-green or pinkish, triangular, 5–6 mm long, 2.5–3 mm wide, herbaceous, strongly keeled, very sparsely velutinous along midrib, margin entire, apex aristate, arista 3–4 mm long. Leaves alternate, petiole terete, pale yellowish-green to reddish, 4−7 cm long, 2−2.5 mm thick, villous; leaf blade asymmetric, oblique, ovate to widely ovate, 4−8.6 cm long, 3.5–7 cm wide, broad side 2–4 cm wide, basal lobes cordate, 0.5–2 cm long, apex acuminate or acute, margin denticulate and lined with white to magenta, sparsely velutinous hairs; leaf thickly chartaceous, succulent, adaxially green, sometimes with irregular pale green to silvery variegations between veins, surface glabrous or very sparsely velutinous; abaxially pale green,velutinous on all veins; venation basal, ca. 7 palmate, midrib distinct, ca. 2 secondary veins on each side, other primary veins branching dichotomously or nearly so, tertiary veins reticulate. Inflorescences an axillary, bisexual, cymosely branching panicle 7–22 cm long with dichasial cymes, peduncle 5–17 cm long, arising directly from rhizome, branched 3–4 times, erect or ascending, yellowish-green to reddish, glabrous or very minutely puberulous; cymes glabrous or very sparsely sessile-glandular; protandrous. Bracts pale yellowish-green, hyaline, nearly membranaceous, very sparsely glandular or glabrous, usually persistent, those at basal node of inflorescence widely lanceolate, 6–12 mm long, 3–6 mm wide, apex mucronate apiculate or slightly retuse, margin entire; bracts at summit of inflorescence 2.5–4 mm long, 1.7–2.5 mm wide, apex acute to retuse, margin entire. Staminate flower: pedicel 0.8–2 cm long, glabrous or with sparse, sessile glands, tepals 4, white to pinkish, outer 2 ovate or obovate to suborbicular, 0.8–1 cm long, 0.5–8 cm wide, abaxially glandular, inner 2 oblanceolate, 0.6–0.9 cm long, 0.2–0.4 cm wide, apex obtuse to rounded; androecium actinomorphic, ca. 0.3 cm across; stamens yellow, 40–48; filaments shortly fused at base; anthers obovate, ca. 0.6 mm long, 2-locular, apex rounded to truncate, subequal to filaments. Pistillate flower: pedicel 0.8–1 cm long, glabrous or with sparse, sessile glands; ovary pale green to pinkish, body trigonous-ellipsoid, 4–6 mm long, 2–3.5 mm thick (wings excluded), sparsely glandular; 3-winged, wings subequal, 6–7 mm long, lateral wings narrower, shallowly sub-triangular, 1–4 mm wide, abaxial wing shallowly sub-triangular, rounded proximally, 1.5–4.5 mm wide, margin entire; ovary 3-locular, placentation bilamellate; tepals 4, white to pinkish, outer 2 ovate or obovate, 6.5–8 mm long, 5–7 mm wide, with sessile glands abaxially, inner 2 oblanceolate, 5–8 mm long, 2.5–3.5 mm wide, apex obtuse; styles 3, shortly fused at base, greenish-yellow, ca. 3 mm long, stigma spirally twisted. Capsule pendent, pedicel 7–10 mm long, tepals deciduous; body trigonous-ellipsoid, ca. 7 mm long, 3 mm thick (wings excluded), greenish or pinkish when fresh; wings subequal, ca. 9 mm long, lateral wings 3–4 mm wide, abaxial wing 3.5–4 mm wide.