Bauhinia cheilantha ( Bongard 1836: 120 ) Steudel (1840: 191)

Gomes, Aureliana Santos, Rodrigues, Erimágna De Morais, Moura, Débora Coelho, Melo, José Iranildo Miranda De, Ribeiro, Rayane De Tasso Moreira & Queiroz, Rubens Teixeira De, 2022, Fabaceae Lindl. in a Conservation Unit in the Semi-Arid Region of Paraíba, Brazil, Phytotaxa 555 (1), pp. 17-41 : 23

5. Bauhinia cheilantha ( Bongard 1836: 120) Steudel (1840: 191) . ( Fig. 3j )

Trees, branches tomentulous, inermous. Nectary leaflet, sessile. Stipules caducous. Leaves imparipinnate, 1–foliolate, bilobed leaflets, venation actinodromous, translucid punctuation absent. Inflorescence raceme, terminal. Flowers pedicellate, zygomorphic, diplostemonous; calyx dialysepalous, sepals 5, corolla dialypetalous, whitish, petals 5; androecium dialystaminous, homodinamous, anthers longitudinal; ovary superior, stipitate, pluriovulate. Fruit legume, stipitate, linear, plane, margin straight, epicarp tomentose, brown. Seeds oblong, plane, coat brown, hilum basal.

Examined material:— BRAZIL. Paraíba: Maturéia, Pico do Jabre, 800 m elev., 13 May 2019, fl. & fr., Aureliana Gomes 86995 ( UFP); 13 December 2019, fl., Aureliana Gomes 2099 ( HACAM).

Distribution and ecology:— The species occurs in Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil, where it is registered in the Northeast (AL, BA, CE, MA, PB, PE, PI, RN, SE), Central-West (MS, MG) and Southeast (MG, SP) (INCT-Virtual Herbarium of Flora and Fungi; Flora of Brazil 2020). Bauhinia cheilantha can be found in the arboreal or shrub Caatinga domains, seasonal forest, refuge areas, anthropized environments, as well as in Cerrado areas ( Vaz & Tozzi 2003).

Phenology: Registered with flowers and fruits in May and flower in December.

Taxonomic discussion:— Bauhinia cheilantha is characterized, mainly, by the arboreous habit, unifoliolate compound leaves, lobate, similar to a cow’s leg, actinodromous venation, inflorescence in terminal raceme, and legume fruit with ligneous valves. Commonly known “pata de vaca”.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Species of Fabaceae Lindl. of the study area, Pico do Jabre State Park, Paraíba, Brazil. a Centrosema brasilianum. b Platymiscium floribundum. c Macropsychanthus grandiflorus d Centrosema sagittatum. e Ancistrotropis peduncularis. f Poecilanthe grandiflora. g Erythrina velutina. h Chamaecrista repens. i Canavalia brasiliensis. j Bauhinia cheilantha. k Stylosanthes viscosa. l Crotalaria vitelina. (Source: the authors).