Common Name | Foot Creeper |
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Botanical Name | Bauhinia vahlii |
Trees deciduous, small to 15 m tall. Bark blackish, rough; branches spreading or pendulous, zigzag, slender, glabrous. Stipules caducous; petiole 0.8-1.2 cm; leaf blade broadly orbicular, 1.5-4 × 2.2-6 cm, 7-9-veined, leathery, abaxially pubescent or glabrous, adaxially glabrous, base cordate, apex bifid to ca. 1/3, lobes rounded at apex.
Inflorescence a lateral or terminal raceme, ca. 20-flowered; peduncle short; bracts and bracteoles linear. Flower buds obovoid, puberulent, apex protruding. Hypanthium turbinate, short. Calyx split spathaceous at anthesis. Petals yellowish, subequal, oblanceolate, 8-10 mm, subsessile.
Fertile stamens 10, unequal; filaments 6-7 mm; anthers small, ca. 3 mm. Ovary stalked, glabrous; stigma subsessile, peltate, small. Legume linear-cylindric, 15-20 × 1.8-2.2 cm; valves woody, glabrous. Seeds 12-20, dark brownish, ellipsoid, 8-10 mm in diam. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Jun-Aug. 2n = 28.