Bauhinia mollis ( Bongard 1838: 133 ) Dietrich (1840: 1475)

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 : 159

11. Bauhinia mollis ( Bongard 1838: 133) Dietrich (1840: 1475) ( Figure 2D , 4C )

= Pauletia mollis Bongard (1838: 133)

Type: — Brazil. Mato Grosso: “Cuiabá, - Camapuã”, 1826, L. Riedel 620 (lectotype: LE 00002276, photograph! designated by Zapater & Lozano 2012).

Shrubs and treelets, 1.5–2.5 m alt. Branches armed, extrafloral nectaries absent. Stipules caducous, not observed. Leaves unifoliolate, petiole 1.0–2.5 × 0.1 cm; leaf blade 3.1–6.7 × 3.5–7.2 cm, bilobed, base cordate to subcordate, apex of lobes rounded, leaflets elliptic. Inflorescence axillary, peduncle 0.3–0.5 cm long, floral bracts absent. Flowers 2 per inflorescence; pedicel 0.5–1.1 cm long; developed floral bud 3.3–5.0 cm long, smooth, clavate; hypanthium 1.0 cm long, internally glabrous; sepals 2.5–4.8 cm long; petals 2.1–5.3 × 0.3–0.5 cm, clawed, spatulate, apex rounded; fertile stamens 10, homomorphic, filaments 1.1–3.8 cm long; gynoecium, stipe 0.8–2.5 cm long, ovary 0.9–1.7 cm long, tomentose, style 1.0– 2.3 cm long, stigma bilobed. Fruits 8.5–20 × 1.3–1.6 cm.

Examined material: — Brazil. Mato Grosso: 53 km na estrada de Poconé para Cuiabá , 02 February 1986, (bd., fl.), A. M. de Carvalho 2219 & G. P. Lewis ( K, RB, UFMT) ; Barão de Melgaço, estrada Fazenda Espírito Santo, RPPN Sesc Pantanal , 06 March 2006, (fr.), G. A. Lima Jr. 622 & H. Ferreira ( UFMT) ; BR 070 , Cuiabá–Cáceres, 24 March 1995, (bd.), M. Macedo 4456 & R. Godinho ( UFMT) ; Chapada dos Guimarães, 15°31’57”S, 55°42’72”W, 21 February 1997 (bd., fr.), A. G. Nave 1129 et al. ( ESA) ; Cuiabá, Avenida Parque do Barbado , 15°36’13.2”S, 56°4’8.6”W, 25 December 2022, (fl., fr.) D. S. Amorim 211 ( UFMT) ; Nobres , 23 May 1997, (bd., fl., fr.), V. C. Souza 17002 et al. ( ESA, UFMT) ; Nobres, arredores do Lago Azul , 24 May 1997, (fr.), V. C. Souza 17179 et al. ( ESA, UFMT) ; Poconé, estrada Transpantaneira, sentido Fazendo Campo Largo , 16°36’71.6”S, 56°45’69.5”W, 04 June 2008, (fr.), R. R. Silva 1798 & J. E. da Silva ( UFMT) ; Poconé, Rodovia MT-060, margem da estrada da Transpantaneira , 01 February 2023, (fl., fr.) A. Melo 1899 & A. K. Koch ( UFMT) ; Rosário Oeste, Fazenda Nossa Senhora da Conceição , 15°00’09.9”S, 56°18’63.4”W, 22 March 2008, (fr.), R. R. Silva 1749 et al. ( UFMT) ; Rosário Oeste, 02 February 1986, (bd., fr.), A. M. de Carvalho 2194 & G. P. Lewis ( K) ; Santo Antônio do Leverger, Engenho Velho, 24 March 1983, (fr.), L. Carreira 666 et al. ( MG, NY) ;

Distribution: This species occurs in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay ( POWO 2023). In Brazil, its occurrence is confirmed in the North (TO), Central-West (GO, MS and MT) and Southeast (MG) regions ( Vaz & Santos 2023). It occurs in the Cerrado and Pantanal domains ( Vaz & Santos 2023), and in the study areas it was registered in dry forest, deciduous seasonal forest, forest fragments, disturbed gallery forest, semideciduous seasonal forest and seasonally flooded areas.

Taxonomic comments: It belongs to Bauhinia sect. Pauletia ser. Aculeatae . Bauhinia mollis differs from B. platypetala by the paired prickles, leaves showing a wrinkled aspect at the margins in dried specimens, tomentose, soft and velvety indumentum in the abaxial side of the leaves and ovary, and smooth and clavate floral bud. It is the only species in this series to show clavate floral buds ( Vaz & Tozzi 2005).

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).