Erythrophleum 
slightly discolorous, leathery, asymmetric, ovate to 
orbicular, 25-85 mm long, 20-75 mm wide, L/W 0.8- 
1.6, apex rounded or emarginate. /nflorescence usually 
on current seasons growth, of axillary panicles or 
spikes to 130 mm long. Bracts small, caducous; 
bracteoles absent. Flowers sessile, + actinomorphic, 
greenish-white. Hypanthium c. 1 mm long. Calyx 1.5- 
2 mm long, lobes 5, c. 2/3 of total length; lobes 
rounded and fimbriate. Petals 5, free, oblanceolate, 
2.5-4 mm long, margins fimbriate. Stamens 10, free, 
exserted, the filament bases unequally thickened; 
filaments alternately long and short; anthers 
dorsifixed, versatile, thecae straight, opening by 
longitudinal slits, apex with a gland-like tip. 
Gynoecium long (exserted) or short (included). Ovary 
stipitate, white-hirsute throughout; ovules 6-8; stigma 
minute. Pods on stipe c. 20 mm long, dark brown, 
sub-woody, dehiscent, flat, oblong, straight, 115-165 
mm long, 24-43 mm wide, 4-8-seeded. Funicle long, 
flattened. Seeds transverse in pod, brown, often scurfy, 
CAESALPINIACEAE 33 
flattened ellipsoid, 10-12 mm long, 9-12 mm wide. 
Flowering: Sept - Dec; fruit available most months, 
peaking June - July. Fig. 13 Ironwood 
Common in the DR, occurring in most vegetation 
types on a variety of soil types excluding heavy 
clays. On skeletal soils Ironwood may be leafless 
during the Dry season. The species is a prolific root 
suckerer. 
A species well known to the pastoral industry as 
poisonous to all types of stock (Everist, 1979). The 
timber is extremely hard, dense and durable and is 
reasonably resistant to termite attack. It has been 
used for building, fence posts, railway sleepers, 
crafts, firewood, etc. Ironwood is used extensively 
by Aborigines for medicinal purposes (Scarlett et al., 
1982; Abor. Comm. NT, 1988) and for ceremonial 
and utilitarian artifacts (Levitt, 1981). The extruded 
gum on the bark is eaten raw (Wightman, unpub.). 
The bark yields a red dye (Wightman et al., 1992). 
LYSIPHYLLUM (Benth.) de Wit 
Evergreen or briefly deciduous trees, shrubs or scramblers. Tomentum of simple hairs. Stipules minute, 
caducous. Leaves pinnately 2-foliolate, the rachis ending in a bristle; leaflets asymmetric, venation palmate. 
Inflorescence racemose. Bracts and bracteoles minute, caducous. Hypanthium present. Calyx 5-partite. Petals 
5, free, clawed. Stamens 10, exsert; anthers dorsifixed, versatile, dehiscing by longitudinal slits. Ovary stipitate, 
the stipe adhering to one side of the hypanthium; style curved, glabrous; stigma capitate. Pods dehiscent or 
indehiscent, flat, oblong, straight. Seeds flattened, elliptic. 
A genus of 7 species of the Old World tropics and subtropics; 5 species in Australia, 3 in the NT and 2 in the 
DR. 
Lysiphyllum (and Piliostigma) is a satellite genus of Bauhinia; the latter in its strict sense does not occur in 
Australia (de Wit, 1956). The characters which distinguish Lysiphyllum from related genera include: leaves of 
two free leaflets; hypanthium (receptacle) narrow; fertile stamens 10; stipe of ovary adhering to one side of 
hypanthium; stigma large, capitate. 
1. Shrub or scrambler; leaflets broader than long; pod indehiscent ..........ssseseseeresereee oles 
18 Tree; leaflets longer than broad; pod dehiscent .......... 
L. binatum (Blanco) de Wit 
Bauhinia binata Blanco 
Evergreen or briefly deciduous spreading 
shrub, scrambler or climber to 6 m high. Tomentum 
of fine, ferruginous hairs on young shoots and 
inflorescence, becoming glabrous. Stems with 
woody, simple, coiled tendrils. Leaf rachis 12-26 mm 
long; leaflets discolorous, transverse-oblong, 
-ovate or -suborbicular, 15-31 mm long, 24-48 mm 
wide, L/W 0.6-0.8. Inflorescence terminal, to 
60 mm long. Pedicels 3-8 mm long. Hypanthium 
L. binatum 
L. cunninghamii 
faintly ribbed, c. 9 mm long. Calyx c. 9 mm long, 
lobes free or weakly adhering at base. Petals white, 
spathulate, 18-20 mm long, pubescent. Stamens red 
subequal. Ovules c. 15. Pods brown, subwoody to 
pithy, indehiscent, 77-165 mm long, 29-40 mm wide. 
Seeds red-brown, c. 10 mm long, 8 mm wide. 
Flowering: Dec - Feb; fruit available most months. 
Fig. 14 
SE Asia to Australia where found in the NT and 
Qld. A coastal species, usually in deciduous vine 
thickets on dunes. Infrequent in the DR. 
