Bauhinia vespertilio Moore (1895: 347)

Amorim, Daniele Dos Santos De & Pessoa, Edlley, 2025, Bauhinia s. s. (Fabaceae-Cercidoideae) from Baixada Cuiabana, Mato Grosso, Brazil: a neglected center of diversity for the genus, Phytotaxa 681 (2), pp. 146-166 : 163

16. Bauhinia vespertilio Moore (1895: 347) ( Figure 2H, 2I , 4H )

Type:— Brazil. Mato Grosso: Santa Cruz, S. Moore 587 (holotype: BM000952230 , photograph!; isotype: NY00003502 , photograph!)

Treelets, shrubs or subshrubs, 0.50–5.0 m alt. Branches armed, extrafloral nectaries absent. Stipules persistent, linear. Leaves unifoliolate, petiole 1.0–2.5 × 0.1–0.2 cm; leaf blade 4.0–10.2 × 3.5–9.8 cm, bilobed, base cordate, apex of lobes minutely truncate, divaricate, leaflets oblong or elliptic. Inflorescence terminal, peduncle 0.4–3.0 cm long; rachis 4.5–10 cm long, floral bracts absent. Flowers 2–10 per inflorescence; pedicel 1.5–3.5 cm long; developed floral bud 3.0– 4.5 cm long, winged, clavate; hypanthium 1.0– 1.3 cm long, internally pubescent; sepals 3.0–5.0 cm long; petals 1.6–3.0 × 0.2–0.3 cm, clawed, linear, apex acuminate; fertile stamens 10, heteromorphic, 5 with reduced anthers, filaments 0.8–4.0 cm long; anthers of larger stamens ca. 1.0 cm long, anthers of smaller stamens ca. 0.5 cm long; gynoecium, stipe 0.8–3.5 cm long, hirsute, ovary 1.0– 1.5 cm long, hirsute; style 1.0– 2.5 cm long, stigma clavate-sulcate. Fruits 11–13.5 × 1.0– 1.5 cm.

Examined material: — Brazil. Mato Grosso: Chapada dos Guimarães, PARNA Chapada dos Guimarães, 30 January 2015, (fr.), L. L. C. Antunes 1441 et al. ( UFG) ; Chapada dos Guimarães, PARNA da Chapada dos Guimarães, Morro São Jerônimo, 31 October 1996, (bd.), M. Macedo s/n & A. R. Ferreira ( UFMT 12754 ) ; Cuiabá, Km 83 na rodovia BR 364, 750 m, 11 February 1975, (bd., fr.), W. R. Anderson 11326 ( NY) ; Cuiabá, S. José da Serra , 19 November 1975, G. Hatschbach 37489 ( K, MBM, NY, US) ; Cuiabá, próximo ao bairro CPA, 04 April 1982, (fr.), I. F. dos Santos 19 ( UFMT) ; Cuiabá, Parque Atalaia, 04 November 1985, (bd., fl.), Lídia H. 02 & Ana Margarida ( UFMT) ; Cuiabá, Condomínio Belvedere, na área de proteção ambiental, 15°35’53.5”S, 56°01’22.6”W, 20 November 2009, (bd., fr.) A. Francener 910 ( UFG, UFMT) ; Cuiabá, Parque Mãe Bonifácia, 15°34’40.70”S, 56°6’21.60”W, 26 January 2023, (bd., fl., fr.), D. S. Amorim 214 & A. Melo ( UFMT) ; Cuiabá, caminho para Fazenda Roselândia, 01 February 1986, (bd., fr.), A. M. de Carvalho 2148 & G. P. Lewis ( K) ; Nova Brasilândia, estrada entre Riolândia (Frieira) e Marzagão, 07 September 1997, (bd.), V. C. Souza 20198 et al. ( ESA, UFMT) ; Rosário Oeste, 19 December 1998, (fr.), S. Souza 34 et al. ( UFMT) ; Santo Antônio de Leverger, 09 November 1995, (bd., fl.), M. Gema 27 ( UFMT) ; Várzea Grande, 28 March 1982, (bd., fr.), Z. L. Ferraz 04 ( UFMT) .

Distribution: This species is endemic to Brazil, with confirmed occurrence in the Central-West region (GO and MT) ( Vaz & Santos 2023, POWO 2023). It occurs exclusively in the Cerrado ( Vaz & Santos 2023) and in the study area it was found in Cerrado sensu stricto, seasonal forest and Cerradão.

Taxonomic comments: This species belongs to Bauhinia sect. Pauletia ser. Pentandrae . It can be easily recognized by the bilobed leaves, with oblong to elliptic leaflets, the lobe apex region concolorous with the leaf blade, linear stipules, and the hirsute indument throughout the plant, including floral buds and ovary, and the clavate-sulcate stigma.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Examples of Bauhinia species found in Baixada Cuiabana. A: Bauhinia longifolia (Bong.) Steud. (D.S. Amorim 219); B and C: Bauhinia malmeana Vaz & Lewis (D.S. Amorim 210 et al.); D: Bauhinia mollis (Bong.) Steud. (D.S. Amorim 211); E: Bauhinia pentandra (Bong.) Dietr. (D.S. Amorim 218); F and G: Bauhinia ungulata L. (D.S. Amorim 204 et al.); H and I: Bauhinia vespertilio S.Moore (D.S. Amorim 214 & A. Melo). Image credits: D.S. Amorim and E. Pessoa.

FIGURE 4. Leaf morphology of species found in Baixada Cuiabana. A: Bauhinia malmeana Vaz & Lewis (D.S. Amorim 210); B: Bauhinia marginata (Bong.) Steud.; C: Bauhinia mollis (Bong.) Dietr.(A. Melo 1899 & A.K. Koch); D: Bauhinia pentandra (Bong.) Dietr. (G.A. Lima Jr. 509 & M. Ferreira da Silva); E: Bauhinia platypetala Burch. ex Benth. (G.A. Lima Jr. 648 et al.); F: Bauhinia pulchella Benth. (B. Wilke 5 et al.); G: Bauhinia ungulata L. (D.S. Amorim 205 et al.); H: Bauhinia vespertilio S.Moore (D.S. Amorim 214).