34 CAESALPINIACEAE 
L. cunninghamii (Benth.) de Wit 
Bauhinia cunninghamii (Benth.) Benth. 
Trees to 10 m high; bark dark grey, fissured, 
becoming shaggy. Indumentum of the vegetative parts 
a minute grey-white tomentum, of the pedicels, 
calyx and corolla red-brown and velutinous. Leaf 
rachis 12-27 mm long; leaflets concolorous, 
asymmetric-elliptic to ovate, 13-40 mm long, 10-28 
mm wide, L/W 1.3-2.1. Inflorescence axillary, on old 
wood, to c. 30 mm long. Pedicels c. 7 mm long. 
Hypanthium 2-5 mm long. Calyx with a short tube; 
7-9 mm long. Petals asymmetric, subequal, obovate, 
11-15 mm long. Stamens grading in length. Ovules 
c. 12. Pods red when young, on stipe 12-22 mm 
Lysiphyllum 
long, dehiscent, valves thin and stiffly coriaceous, 
70-150 mm long, 46-63 mm wide. Seeds red-brown, 
c. 10 mm long, 8 mm wide. Flowering: May - Oct, 
peaking in July - Aug; fruit available most months. 
Fig. 14 Bauhinia 
Widespread in the drier monsoonal regions of 
northern Australia. In the NT common in open 
woodland and savanna in latitudes between 
Katherine and Elliott; often on heavy soils and 
associated with limestone. In the DR known from 
the Daly R. Aborigines are reported using the bark 
and root of this species for the treatment of 
headache, as an antiseptic and antipyretic (Abor. 
Comm. NT, 1988). 
PARKINSONIA L. 
A genus of c. 15 species in the New World and South Africa. One introduced species in Australia. 
*P, aculeata L. 
Evergreen multistemmed shrub or tree to 6 m, 
glabrate. Stipules small, setaceous, caducous or spiny, 
1-5 mm long. Leaves bipinnate, rachis reduced, 
spinose to 18 mm or absent; pinnae 1-2 pairs, 
185-380 mm long; rachillae flattened, green; leaflets 
alternate, deciduous, 48-154 per pinna, oblong, 1-8 
mm long, 0.5-3.2 mm wide, L/W 2-3. Inflorescence 
an axillary raceme to 200 mm long. Bracts caducous, 
c. 2 mm long; bracteoles absent. Pedicels 10-15 mm 
long. Hypanthium c. 1 mm long. Sepals 5, + equal, 
elliptic, imbricate, 5-7 mm long. Petals 5, unequal, 
crimped, yellow, 9-12 mm long, claw tomentose, limb 
slightly broader than long, one petal slightly broader, 
with a longer claw and red spots. Stamens 10, free, 
alternating long and short; filaments thickened and 
hairy at base; anthers dorsifixed, versatile, minutely 
apiculate. Ovary hairy; ovules 11-13; style glabrous; 
stigma minute, terminal. Pods torulose, indehiscent, 
coriaceous, olivaceous to brown, longitudinally 
nerved, 1-6-seeded, 85-130 mm long, 6-8 mm wide. 
Seeds longitudinal, narrowly elliptic to oblong, 
mottled olivaceous-brown, 8-10 mm long, 3.5-4 mm 
wide. Flowering and fruiting: most of the year. 
Fig. 14 Parkinsonia 
Native to tropical America, now a widespread 
weed in Australia and a gazetted noxious weed in 
the NT. Rare in the DR where known from the 
floodplain of the Adelaide River, usually on seasonally 
flooded sites. 
PELTOPHORUM (Vog.) Benth. 
A genus of c. 15 species in the tropics and subtropics of both hemispheres. A single species in the NT. 
P. pterocarpum (DC.) Heyne 
Deciduous tree to 10 m rarely higher; bark grey 
to brown. Vegetative parts, inflorescence, calyx, 
base of petals and staminal filaments with dense 
rusty appressed hairs, leaves becoming sparsely 
hairy with age. Stipules minute, caducous. 
Leaves bipinnate, rachis 95-260 mm long; pinnae 
6-12 pairs, 35-120 mm long; leaflets opposite, 
discolorous, 9-17 pairs per pinna, oblong, asymmetric, 
emarginate, 6-21 mm long, 2.7-10 mm wide, 
L/W 1.6-3.2. Inflorescence a terminal panicle of 
racemes to 250 mm long. Bracts caducous, c. 2 mm 
long; bracteoles absent. Pedicels 2.5-6 mm long. 
Hypanthium c. 2 mm long. Sepals 5, subequal, 
imbricate, elliptic, 7-11 mm long. Petals 5, yellow 
with brown central area, subequal, 10-21 mm long; 
claw thickened, broad, hairy; limb + orbicular, 
crimped. Stamens 10, free; filaments thickened at 
