The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae
| The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae | |
= Bauhinia.
Habit and leaf form. Trees, or shrubs (prostrate or erect); without tendrils; unarmed. Leaves two-lobed (shallowly). Venation palmate, parallel or fan-like (with moderately developed laterals). Stipules absent or early caducous or very inconspicuous, or present, persistent and conspicuous (small, sagittate, deciduous); neither leafy nor spinescent; not connate.
Inflorescence and floral morphology. Flowers hermaphrodite; pentamerous; coloured. Hypanthium present (short, campanulate). Length of floral tube relative to total hypanthium plus calyx length, about 0.5–0.6. Calyx gamosepalous (to half its length); not covering the rest of the flower in bud; more or less regular; 5 partite; not imbricate. Corolla present; slightly zygomorphic; polypetalous; without any greatly reduced petals. Petals yellow, or yellow and red; 5; imbricate; imbricate-ascending. Clawed petals present (all clawed). Disk present and conspicuous. Androecium of ten parts; members all free of one another; members markedly unequal (two whorls of different lengths); without staminodia. Fertile stamens 10. Anthers attached well above base of connective. Dehiscence longitudinal. Ovary stipitate; free (the long gynophore free of the hypanthium, confluent with upper margin of ovary and fruit). Ovules few to numerous.
Fruit, seed and seedling. Fruit a two-valved pod (tardily dehiscent); not becoming woody (papery, the valves thin); curved (semi-lunate); without prominent raised veins; not winged; without markedly twisting or enrolling valves. Seeds non-endospermic; not arillate (the hilum circular); with a straight or slightly oblique radicle.
Pollen ultrastructure. Tectum reticulate.
Cytology, geography, etc. Basic chromosome number, x = 14. 2n = 28. 2 species. Southwestern Africa. Not widely cultivated.
Tribe. Cercideae.
The interactive key provides access to the character list, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting specified attributes, and summaries of attributes within groups of taxa.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 1993 onwards. The genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae: descriptions, identification, and information retrieval. In English and French; French translation by E. Chenin. Version: 19th October 2005. http://delta-intkey.com’.