Bauhinia kwangtungensis Merrill; Lasiobema japonica (Maximowicz) de Wit.

Lianas, woody, with tendrils, glabrous throughout except for inflorescences and immature fruit. Branches cylindric; twigs angulate. Stipules caducous; petiole 3-4 cm; leaf blade shiny on both surfaces, with a yellowish margin, suborbicular, 4-9 × 4-9 cm, papery, both surfaces glabrous, primary veins 7-13, veins dense, base deeply cordate, apex bifid to 1/3-1/2 on flowering branches, lobes obtuse at apex. Inflorescence a raceme, 10-23 cm, many flowered, terminal, rusty pubescent; bracts narrowly lanceolate, ca. 3.5 mm, acuminate; bracteoles linear, ca. 1 mm. Pedicel 10-20 mm, slender. Flower buds obovoid, 4-5 mm, apex truncate with an opening. Receptacle broadly funnelform, 1.5-2 mm; calyx lobes 5, broadly ovate-triangular, ca. 2 × 3 mm. Petals greenish, obovate-oblong, ca. 10 × 4.5 mm with a claw ca. 2.5 mm, abaxially silky hairy. Fertile stamens 3; fila­ments ca. 11 mm, glabrous. Staminodes 2. Ovary rusty silky hairy, with a stout stalk; style short; stigma small. Legume oblong, strap-shaped, swollen, 4-7 × 2-2.8 cm, pubescent when young, subglabrous when old; valves leathery, glabrous. Seeds 1-5, black, shiny, ensiform, ca. 10 × 7 mm. Fl. Jan-May, fr. Jun-Sep.

Open forests near coastal regions; low elevations. Guangdong, Hainan [Japan].