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”.