Volume 4 > Part 1 > Year 1984 > Page 7 > Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae > Bauhinia

2. Bauhinia purpurea L.wfo-0000213155

Sp. Pl.: 375. 1753; Baker in Hook.f., Fl. Br. Ind. 2: 284. 1878; Hosseus, Beih. bot. Centrbl. 27: 480. 1910; idem 28: 392. 1911; Rid1., Fl. Malay Penins. 1: 634. 1922; Craib in Fl. Siam. En. 1: 526. 1928; Gagnep. in FL. Gén. I.–C. 2: 127. 1913; de Wit, Reinwardtia 3: 406. 1956; K.Larsen & S.S.Larsen, Nat. Hist.-Bull. Siam Soc. 25: 1.5. 1973; in Fl. C.L.V. 18: 152. 1980.— Phanera purpurea (L.) Benth. in Miq., Pl. Jungh.: 262. 1852. Fig. 1: 1–3.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Shrub or tree up to 10 m high; young branches glabrescent. Leaves suborbicular, up to 12 cm diam., 9–13-nerved; bifid to ⅓–½ with narrow to broad sinus, tip of lobes rounded to acute; base rounded to cordate; upper surface glabrous, lower sparsely hairy. Stipules minute, 1–2 mm long. Petioloes 2–3 cm. Racemes lateral or terminal, 6–10 flowered. Pedicels thick, 1–1.5 cm. Bracts ovate, acute, 1–2 mm long; bracteoies similar, inserted at about the middle of the pedicel. Buds clavate, velvety, greyish-green, 4–5 ang1ed mainly towards the ± twisted apex, ± 3–4 cm long. Receptacle 7–12 mm long. Calyx spathaceous. Petals pink to dark purple, narrowly lanceolate, the posterior broader, blanceolate, 3–5 cm long, claw 5–10 mm. Stamens 3 fertile; filaments shortly connate at base, 3–4 cm long; anthers 5–7 mm long; staminodus 5–6, thread-like, 6–10 mm long. Ovary velvety, 1 cm long, stipitate, stipe 1 cm; style short; stigma oblique, flat. Pods dehiscent, linear, 20–25 by 1.5–2.5 cm, glabrous, irregularly veined. Seeds ca 10, flat, orbicular, ca 15 mm diam.

Thailand : Cultivated.

Distribution : Originally palaeotropic (type from the Philippines). Cultivated throughout the tropics.

Vernacular : Sieo (เสี้ยว), sieo dok daeng (เสี้ยวดอกแดง), sieo wan (เสี้ยวหวาน)(Northem); kahoe (กะเฮอ), sa-pe-si (สะเปซี)(Karen-Northern).

Notes: The petals vary in colour to some extent. A sterile hybrid Bauhinia purpurea x variegata (B. blakeana Dunn, J. Bot. London 46: 325. 1908) with irregular pollen and intermediate flowers is commonly cultivated in Thailand.