川滇羊蹄甲 chuan dian yang ti jia

Bauhinia henryi Harms (1921), not Craib (1913); B. mairei Harms; B. saxatilis Craib; Lasiobema comosa (Craib) A. Schmitz.

Lianas, woody. Branches brownish puberulent; tendrils solitary or in pairs. Stipules caducous; petiole 2-3 cm; leaf blade broadly ovate or suborbicular, 3-6 × 2.8-6.5 cm, rigidly papery, abaxially glabrous or puberulent when young, adaxially glabrous, primary veins 7-9, base cordate or truncate, apex bi­fid to more than 1/2, lobes obtuse or rounded at apex. Inflores­cence an elongated raceme, 10-20 cm, many flowered, termi­nal; bracts and bracteoles linear, 5-8 mm, brushlike in young inflorescences. Pedicel 8-13 mm. Flower buds ovoid, apex open with 5 teeth. Hypanthium cupular, 2-3 mm. Calyx lobes 5, reflexed at anthesis, broadly lanceolate, ca. 5 mm, outside pubescent. Petals yellow or whitish yellow, subequal, obovate or oblong, ca. 7 mm, outside hairy along midvein, shortly clawed or subsessile, apex acute, obtuse, or rounded. Fertile stamens 3; filaments 6-7 mm, glabrous. Staminodes 2, much reduced. Floral disk annular, fleshy, swollen. Ovary stalked, glabrous, oblique; style ca. as long as ovary stalk; stigma capi­tate, small. Legume linear-oblong, ca. 7 × 2 cm; valves woody, glabrous. Seeds ellipsoid, compressed, ca. 10 × 7-8 mm. Fl. Aug-Sep, fr. Nov-Dec.

● Rocky hills, disturbed habitats on slopes. Sichuan, Yunnan.