Description from
Flora of China
Guilandina bonduc Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 381. 1753; G. bonducella Linnaeus; Caesalpinia bonducella (Linnaeus) Fleming.
Climbers, prickly, yellowish pubescent throughout. Prickles straight or somewhat recurved. Leaves 30-45 cm; rachis with recurved prickles; pinnae 6-9 pairs, opposite; stipules deciduous, large, leaflike, usually lobed, lobes to 2 cm; leaflets 6-12 pairs, oblong, 1.5-4 × 1.2-2 cm, membranous, both surfaces pubescent, base oblique, apex rounded to acute, mucronate. Racemes axillary, long pedunculate, densely flowered in upper part and sparsely so in lower part; bracts caducous at anthesis, reflexed, subulate, 6-8 mm, pubescent. Pedicels 3-5 mm. Sepals 5, ca. 8 mm, both sides ferruginous hairy. Petals yellowish; standard tinged with red spots, oblanceolate, clawed. Filaments short, hairy in basal part. Ovary hairy. Legume oblong, 5-7 × 4-5 cm, leathery, apex rounded and with beak, swollen, with dense, slender spines 5-10 mm. Seeds 2 or 3, grayish, shiny, ovoid to globose. Fl. Feb, Jul-Oct, fr. Oct-May.
Thickets, roadsides, near seashores; near sea level to 200 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan [pantropical].
