首冠藤 shou guan teng

Lianas, woody, with tendrils. Young branches, inflores­cences, and one side of tendrils rusty hirsutulous; twigs slender, glabrous; tendrils solitary or in pairs. Stipules caducous, small; petiole 1-2 cm, slender; leaf blade suborbicular, 2-4 × 2-5 cm, papery, abaxially rusty pubescent on veins and near base, adaxially glabrous, veins 7, base cordate to truncate, apex bifid to 3/4 or more on flowering branches, lobes rounded at apex. Inflorescence corymbose-racemose or elongated racemose, ter­minal on lateral branches, ca. 5 cm, many flowered; peduncle short; bracts and bracteoles linear, ca. 3 mm. Pedicel slender. Flower buds ovoid, rusty pubescent, acute. Receptacle cylin­dric, 18-25 mm, slender; calyx lobes 5, reflexed, lanceolate, ca. 6 mm, outside pubescent. Petals white, with pink stripes, broadly spatulate or suborbicular, 8-11 × 6-8 mm, abaxially hairy at middle, shortly clawed, margin crisped, apex rounded. Fertile stamens 3; filaments pinkish, ca. 10 mm, glabrous. Sta­minodes 2-5. Floral disk not fleshy. Ovary stalked, glabrous; style stout; stigma peltate. Legume straight or curved, strap-shaped or oblong, compressed, 10-25 × 1.5-2.5 cm, tardily dehiscent, glabrous; valves slightly thickened. Seeds oblong, ca. 8 × 4-6 mm. Fl. Apr-Aug, fr. Jun-Dec.

Open forests in valleys, sunny slopes. ?Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan [Vietnam].

Lower Taxa

• Bauhinia corymbosa var. corymbosa
• Bauhinia corymbosa var. longipes Hosokawa