Bauhinia platypetala Burchell ex Bentham (1870: 198)

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 : 160-161

13. Bauhinia platypetala Burchell ex Bentham (1870: 198) ( Figure 4E )

Types: — Brazil. Tocantins: Porto Real, s.d., W.J. Burchell 8563 (lectotype: K000264658, photograph!, isolectotypes: LE00002242, photograph!, GH00062814, photograph!, designated by Vaz 2011).

Treelets or shrubs, 2.0–4.0 m tall. Branches armed, extrafloral nectaries absent. Stipules persistent, linear. Leaves unifoliolate, petiole 1.9–3.8 × 0.1 cm; leaf blade 3.5–9.2 × 4.2 –10 cm, bilobed, base cordate to emarginate, apex of lobes rounded, leaflets elliptic. Inflorescence axillary, peduncle 0.2–0.5 cm long, floral bracts absent. Flowers 2 per inflorescence; pedicel 0.5–1.5 cm long; developed floral bud 3.5–6.5 cm long, costate, fusiform; hypanthium 0.7–1.0 cm long, internally glabrous; sepals 3.5–4.8 cm long; petals 3.5–5.6 × 0.8–1.8 cm, clawed, elliptic, apex rounded; fertile stamens 10, heteromorphic, filaments 0.7–4.5 cm long; gynoecium, stipe 1.3–2.0 cm long, ovary 0.8–1.5 cm long, glabrous or sometimes with glandular trichomes, style 1.5–3.3 cm long, stigma bilobed. Fruits 10–18 × 1.3–1.8 cm.

Examined material: — Brazil. Mato Grosso: Barão de Melgaço, Fazenda Espírito Santo, RPPN Sesc Pantanal , 06 February 2006, (bd., fl.), G. A. Lima Jr. 648 et al. ( UFMT) ; Chapada dos Guimarães, APM-UHE Manso , 18 May 1999, (fr.), L. Amorim Neto 942 ( UFMT) ; Chapada dos Guimarães, APM Manso – Chapada dos Guimarães, 09 January 2001, (fl.), M. Macedo 7513 & E. Silva E. ( UFMT) ; Cuiabá, Coxipó , mata ciliar próximo a ponte, 24 March 1982, (bd.), J. R. B. Monteiro 28 & H. F. Leitão Filho ( UFMT) ; Cuiabá, Distrito de Nossa Senhora da Guia, 31 January 1999, (bd., fl.), M. Macedo 6928 & A. R. Ferreira ( UFMT) ; Cuiabá, Parque Águas Quentes , 12 February 1974, (bd., fl.), G. Hatschbach 34086 ( MBM) ; Jangada, Fazenda Santa Elina , 13 August 1997, (fr.), R. Sheel-Ybert 188 ( SPF) ; Nobres, Chácara da Serra, 14°41’38.6”S, 56°20’23.1”W, 06 February 2017, (bd., fl.), P. H. A. Melo 6392 & T. R. Peixoto ( HUEFS, RB) ; Rosário Oeste, estrada Cuiabá a Rosário Oeste , 31 km após Jangada , 02 February 1986, (bd., fl.), A. M. de Carvalho 2195 & G. P. Lewis ( UFMT) .

Distribution: It is found in Bolivia and Brazil ( POWO 2023). In Brazil, it is recorded in the North (PA and TO), Northeast (MA and PI) and Central-West (GO and MT) regions ( Vaz & Santos 2023). It occurs in the Amazon and Cerrado domains ( Vaz & Santos 2023), and in the study areas it is found in semideciduous forest, ciliary forest, seasonally deciduous forest and calcareous rock outcrops.

Taxonomic comments: It belongs to Bauhinia sect. Pauletia ser. Aculeatae . It is characterized by the solitary prickles, elliptic floral buds tapering on both sides, making it spindle-shaped, and ovary and stipe with glandular trichomes.

Figures

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).