Bauhinia ferruginea
Content
Description
Large, tendrilled climber; branches glabrescent.
Leaves: stipules orbicular to ovate- orbicular or reniform, foliaceous, glabrous to sparsely hairy mainly inside, 10-28 mm; petiole 2-4 cm; greyish pubescent when young, soon glabrous; lamina ovate-orbicular, 7-10 by 7-8 cm, 9-11-nerved; bifid 1/3; tip of lobes obtuse, base cordate; upper surface glabrous, lower minutely pubescent when young, soon glabrous; rarely pubescent on the nerves.
Inflorescences terminal, corymbose to pyramidal racemes with a greyish to ferrugineous tomentose axis; pedicels puberulous to almost glabrous, 1-2 cm long; bracts varying, usually ovate or lanceolate, 7-15 mm long; bracteoles narrower, lanceolate, inserted in the lower half of the pedicel.
Petals creamy-white turning yellowish, rarely pinkish red; densely woolly tomentose on the outer side, glabrous inside, 3-4.5 cm long, lanceolate, claw short, indistinct; during anthesis margins of the petals becoming recurved, later the whole lamina recurved.
Stamens 3 fertile, filaments pink, glabrous, 5-6 cm; anthers oblong, red, c. 5 mm; staminodes 2-3 (or more?), 12-20 mm, sometimes with minute anthers.
Seeds few, 2-2.5 cm diam.
Distribution
From S Thailand throughout the Malay Peninsula and with a single record from eastern Sumatra present
From S Thailand throughout the Malay Peninsula and with a single record from eastern Sumatra.
Taxonomy
We have found that the taxa 'ferruginea' and 'griffithiana' are difficult to distinguish; they are mainly based on presence or absence of stipules in herbarium material and on the colour of the indumentum. How much these characters are due to geographical and ecological conditions have still to be studied in nature. We have studied populations in southern Thailand of var.ferruginea and found that while the flowering branches shed the stipules, these were kept longer on young sterile shoots. Some collections from Penang (e. g. Potts s. n. in G) have smaller, ovate stipules on the tendrils, but apart from this we have not observed 'small falcate stipules' as mentioned by De Wit (l.c.). We have here chosen to maintain the two taxa as varieties as there are several examples that occur as transition forms; on the other hand, with our present knowledge, it seems that there is a difference in the distribution between var.ferruginea and var. griffithiana.
Bauhinia ferruginea is a well-defined species easily recognized by the unique character of the petals, first erect, then with recurved margins and finally the whole petal entirely curving downwards. Flower colours are by various collectors described from white or creamy turning yellowish, to pinkish. The petals are usually (always?) white to yellowish with age, the stamens pink to red and the anthers red.
Citation
Roxb. 1874 – In: Fl. Ind.: 348
de Wit 1956 – In: Reinwardtia: 453.
Ridley 1922 – In: Fl. Malay Penins.: 628.
Miq. 1854 – In: Fl. Ind. Bat.: 62
de Wit 1956 – In: Reinwardtia: 455.
Prain 1897 – In: J. As. Soc. Beng.: 184
Miq. 1854 – In: Fl. Ind. Bat.: 65
Baker 1878: p. 283. – In: Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 2: excl. var. 2
Burkill 1935: Diet. Econ. Prod. Malay Penins.: 311.