Table 2.

Morphological comparisons among B.edulis, B.dielsiana and B.pseudoedulis.

Character	B.edulis	B.dielsiana	B.pseudoedulis
Plant height	up to 1.5 m	up to 90 cm	30–50 cm
Petiole	green to red, glabrous to subglabrous	green, glabrous to subglabrous	usually reddish, seldom green, densely hairy at young stage
Leaf color	adaxially green or dark green, abaxially light green or purple red	both sides green	adaxially green but dark green along main veins, abaxially light green and purple red along main veins, seldom evenly green
Inflorescence	peduncles green or red, glabrous to subglabrous	peduncles green, glabrous to subglabrous	peduncles red or occasionally green, densely red hairy particularly at young stage
Staminate flower	pedicels and tepals glabrous	pedicels and tepals glabrous	pedicels and outer tepals red hispidulous
Pistillate flower	pedicels glabrous, tepals 5 rarely 6, glabrous, unequal, inner one smallest	pedicels glabrous, tepals 6 rarely 5, subequal, glabrous	pedicels hairy, tepals 5, subequal, outer three hairy
Ovary and capsule	glabrous	glabrous	Hairy
Flowering time	Jun.–Sep.	Jul.–Aug.	Aug.–Oct.
Distribution	100–1500 m, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan; Vietnam	950–1350 m, Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan	160–650 m, Guangxi only