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Flower. Copyright CSIRO

Leaves and Flowers. Copyright CSIRO

Vine stem bark and vine stem transverse section. Copyright CSIRO

Fruits. Copyright CSIRO

Cotyledon stage, epigeal germination. Copyright CSIRO

10th leaf stage. Copyright CSIRO

Bauhinia binata

Family

Caesalpiniaceae

Botanical Name

Bauhinia binata Blanco

Blanco, F.M. (1837) Fl. Filip.: 331. Type: E. D. Merrill, Sp. Blancoanae 998; neo: L; isoneo: NSW, K, W.

Synonyms

Lysiphyllum binatum (Blanco) de Wit, Reinwardtia 3: 432(1956), Type: ?. Bauhinia hookeri var. puberula Benth., Flora Australiensis 2: 296(1864), Type: Queensland, Burdekin River, 1856, F. Mueller; syn: MEL..

Common name

Climbing Bauhinia

Stem

Vine stem diameters to 6 cm recorded. Grows into a large vine but also flowers and fruits as a shrub.

Leaves

Compound leaves resemble butterflies, each leaf consisting of two leaflets and a terminal club-like gland about 2 mm long. Leaflet blades about 18-45 x 12-35 mm with 3-5 veins radiating from the base, leaflet stalks absent. Compound leaf petiole about 10-18 mm long. Stipules small, less than 1 mm long, caducous. Tendrils usually present on some twigs or branches.

Flowers

Petals about 20 x 8 mm, shortly clawed, woolly pubescent on the outer surface but less hairy on the inner surface. Stamens 10, dimorphic, the longer filaments more than 20 mm long, anthers about 4 mm long. Stigma peltate.

Fruit

Pods flat or slightly inflated, curved, about 10-20 x 2-3 cm. Seeds about 6-13, hard, flat, patelliform, about 8-10 mm diam. Cotyledons flat, about 9 x 8 mm, much longer than the 1 mm long radicle.

Seedlings

Cotyledons obovate, about 12-18 x 8-12 mm, fleshy, sessile. First pair of leaves pinnate with one pair of asymmetrical leaflets and a spur-like pendulous gland about 2-3 mm long attached between the leaflets. At the tenth leaf stage: leaves compound, leaflets +/- semi-orbicular, sessile, in pairs with a downward pointing gland or gland-like structure attached to the petiole between the leaflet pairs. Leaflet venation consists of three or four veins radiating from the base. Stipules broadly triangular, about 1 mm long.

Distribution and Ecology

Occurs in NT, CYP, NEQ and southwards to coastal central Queensland, normally at low elevations just above sea level. Usually grows in beach forest but also found in monsoon forest and close to mangrove forest. Also occurs in SE Asia and Malesia.