- Scientific Name: Begonia algaia L.B.Sm. & Wassh.
- Ref: Phytologia 52:441. 1983
- Synonym: Begonia calophylla Irmsch.
- Chinese Common Name: 美丽秋海棠 měilì qiū∙hǎitáng, 裂叶秋海棠 lièyè qiū∙hǎitáng, 虎爪龙 hǔzhǎo∙lóng
- Family: Begoniaceae
- Genus: Begonia
- Distribution: Forests or scrubby vegetation, moist environments by streams; 300-800 m. Jiangxi.
- Photo: 06/18/2017, Hangzhou Botanical Garden, Zhejiang
Herbs, rhizomatous. Rhizomes elongate, 5-8 mm in diam. Stems short. Leaves mostly basal; stipules caducous; petiole 13-26 cm, rusty villous; blade broadly ovate to oblong, slightly asymmetric, 10-20 × 9-19(-21) cm, sparsely pubescent, venation palmate, 6(-8)-veined, base slightly obliquely cordate, margin remotely serrate, distinctly lobed, divided to ca. 1/2 of leaf length; lobes caudate-acuminate at apex; lobules present. Inflorescences 17-27 cm tall, sparsely rusty villous; bracts oblong-ovate, 4-5 mm, villous, apex acute. Staminate flowers: pedicel 4-4.5 cm; tepals 4, pinkish, outer 2 broadly ovate, 2-2.7 cm, outside villous, inner 2 obovate-oblong, 2-2.6 × ca. 1 mm; stamens numerous; filaments fused at base; anthers oval. Pistillate flowers: pedicel 4-5 cm; ovary oblong, ca. 10 × 5 mm, glabrous; placentae axile, bilamellate; tepals 5, unequal, obovate to broadly ovate, 2-2.5 × 0.7-2.2 cm, outside villous; styles 2, fused to halfway; stigmas 2-cleft, spiraled. Capsule nodding, ca. 1.2 × 9 mm, unequally 3-winged; abaxial wing larger, triangular. Fl. Jul-Aug. (Flora of China)
06/18/2017, Hangzhou Botanical Garden