Volume 4 > Part 1 > Year 1984 > Page 17 > Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae > Bauhinia

10. Bauhinia brachycarpa Wall. ex Benth.wfo-0000196998

in Miq., Pl. Jungh.: 261. 1852; Baker in Hook.f., Fl. Br. Ind. 2: 276. 1878; Prain, J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 66 (2): 495. 1897; Craib in Fl. Siam. En. 1: 517. 1928; de Wit, Reinwardtia 3: 414. 1956; K.Larsen & S.S.Larsen, Nat. Hist. Bull. Siam Soc. 25: 8. 1973; Bull. Mus. Natn. Hist. Nat. Paris 4 Sér.3 Sect. B, Adansonia 4: 425. 1981. Fig. 4: 1–2.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Shrub or small tree up to 6 m high; young branches reddish pubescent, later glabrous. Leaves broadly ovate; 4–8 by 5–10 cm, 9–11-nerved; bifid to ⅓ with broad sinus, tip of lobes rounded-acute; base slightly cordate; upper surface glabrous, lower with scattered brownish glands and ± densely hairy. Stipules falcate, ca 2 mm long. Petioles pubescent, 1–2 cm. Racemes short, dense, leaf-opposed, 2–5 cm long. Pedicels slender, 7–8 mm. Bracts linear, 2–3 mm, bracteoles smaller, inserted at base of the pedicel. Buds ovoid, acute, brownish pubescent, ca 5 mm long. Receptacle turbinate, very short. Calyx splitting into two segments, 3 mm long. Petals white, grabrous, narrowly ovate, tapering towards the short claw, 5–7 mm long. Stamens 10 fertile, outer whorl as long as petals, inner whorl shorter; anthers tiny. Ovary 2–3 mm long, densely hairy; style short; stigma indistinct. Pods dehiscent, 3–5 by 1 cm. Seeds 2–4.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai ( Doi Chiang Dao).

Distribution : Burma (type).

Ecology : In Thailand only found in rock crevices at ca 2,000 m alt. on top of a limestone mountain, here it occurs in a stunted form ca 50–60 cm high with leaves smaller than the type.

Notes: This species is dioecious or polygamous; the measurements given here for the ovary refer to reduced ovary in the only Thai plant available.

E-version notes : According to Flora China Vol. 10, this species is also found in China and Laos.