龙须藤 long xu teng

Phanera championii Bentham, Hooker’s J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 4: 78. 1852 ["championi"]; Bauhinia championii var. acutifolia L. Chen; B. championii var. yingtakensis (Merrill & F. P. Metcalf) T. C. Chen; B. hunanensis Handel-Mazzetti; B. yingtakensis Merrill & F. P. Metcalf; Lasiobema championii (Bentham) de Wit; L. hunanensis (Handel-Mazzetti) de Wit.

Lianas, with tendrils. Young branches and inflorescences puberulent. Stipules caducous; petiole 1-2.5 cm, slender; leaf blade ovate or cordate, 3-10 × 2.5-9 cm, papery to leathery, abaxially pubescent when young, pubescent or glabrous when old, adaxially glabrous, primary veins 5-9, base truncate to cor­date; leaves on flowering branches entire with apex acute, ob­tuse, or emarginate, while those on sterile branches or juvenile branches usually deeply bilobed; lobes acute, acuminate, or ob­tuse at apex. Inflorescence a solitary raceme or several racemes joined in a panicle, terminal or axillary, 7-25 cm; bracts and bracteoles small. Pedicel 10-15 mm, slender. Flower buds ellip­soid, 2.5-3 mm; open flowers ca. 8 mm in diam. Receptacle funnelform, ca. 2 mm; calyx lobes 5, lanceolate, ca. 3 mm. Pet­als white, spatulate, 4-6 mm, outside pubescent along midvein, clawed. Fertile stamens 3; filaments ca. 6 mm, glabrous. Staminodes 2. Ovary shortly stalked, hairy on sutures; style short; stigma small. Legume obovoid-oblong, compressed, 7-12 × 2.5-3 cm, glabrous; valves leathery. Seeds 2-5, orbicular, compressed, ca. 12 mm in diam. Fl. Jun-Oct, fr. Jul-Dec. 2n = 28*.

Open or dense forests, thickets; low to middle elevations. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Tai­wan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Vietnam].