1897.] G. King — Materials for a Flora of the Malayan Peninsula. 193 



21. Bauhinia glabrifolia Bak. in Flor. Brit. Ind. IT, 281. A 

 slender climber 50-80 feet long, stem 1/5 in. in diam., branchlets slender 

 at first grey-silky, tendrils few short, circinate, woody, sparsely silky. 

 Leaves truncate or shallowly cordate, very rarely deep-cordate at base, 

 gradually tapering to an acute point, towards apex of twigs entire, lower 

 down cleft at tip, with narrow sinus extending one-sixth to one-fourth 

 down and with narrow acute lobes ; the leaves of young plants and 

 root-shorts bifid to the very base ; rather longer than broad, 4-6 in. 

 long, 3-45 in. wide, light-green, shining, quite glabrous above, when 

 young pubescent on the nerves at length glabrous beneath ; nerves 9 

 more rarely 7, in the quite 2-fid. leaves 3 or 4 to each lobe ; petiole 

 1*25-2 in., glabrous. Flowers in terminal panicles, 8 in. long, 4 in. wide, 

 of numerous dense short-pednncled many-flowered corymbs 2 in. long, 

 1*25 in. wide, pedicels erecto-patent *35-5 in. long, loosely grey-silky, 

 bracts at bases of corymb-peduncles 2, stipellar, ovate-acute, '15 in. 

 long, silky beneath, glabrous above, at base of pedicels solitary, lanceo- 

 late, persistent, *2 in. long, bracteoles about middle of pedicels 2, sub- 

 opposed, subulate, *15 in. long ; buds clove-shaped, the spherical sub- 

 apiculate upper part longer than th narrowly cylindric base. G'dyx 

 rather laxly grey-silky, limb splittiug into spreading subequal ovate 

 lobes with inturned tips, '25 in. long, tube '15 in. long. Petals small 

 white, obovate, clawed, '3 in. long, densely grey-silky outside. Stamens 

 3 fertile, anthers very shortly oblong, filaments white slender glabrous, 

 "5 in. long. Ovary densely silky especially along sutures, distinctly 

 stalked, style glabrous slender, "2 in. long, stigma small. Pod (young) 

 with silky sutures and glabrous valves ; stipe *25 in. long. Bauhinia 

 diptera Blume ex Miq. Anal. Ind. I, 12. B. piperifolia Kurz, Journ. As. 

 Soc. Beng. XLV, 2, 288 not of Roxb. B. anguina Kurz, Journ. As. Soc. 

 Beng. XLV, 2. 288 not of Roxb. Phanera diptera Miq. Flor. Ind. Bat. 

 I, 70. 



Perak ; Scortechini 316! 1512 fspp. with distinct leaflets — B. 

 diptera Blj ! Kunstler 4311 ! 4511 ! 6170 ! Wray 3960 ! Penang ; Curtis 

 801! 1541! Dtstrib. Tenasserim ; Pegu; Borneo. 



This is extremely nearly related to Bauhinia piperifolia Roxb. (Phanera glabri- 

 folia Benth.) and has, indeed, been united with Roxburgh's species both by Mr. Kurz 

 and by Mr. Baker. It is however very easily distinguished by its stipelliform main- 

 bracts, not present in B. piperifolia ; its much longer persistent bracts at base of 

 pedicels ; its pedicels less than half as long, with a spreading, not adpressed, tomen- 

 tum ; and its densely woolly ovaries, those of B. piperifolia being quite glabrous. 



The oldest name is Bauhinia diptera Bl. but as the term is applicable only 



to young leafy root-shoots or to seedling plants and is quite inappropriate when 



used in connection with flowering branches of adult plants, it seems much better 



to neglect it. When Mr. Baker's name is used, however, it has to be recollected 



J. ii. 25 



