Author: Craib
Morphological description (see also description of Genus Bauhinia ; Subgenus Phanera and Section Tubicalyx )
(tubicalyx Bauh Reinw f9 )
Slender tendrilled liana ; young branches greyish pubescent, later glabrous.
Leaves: stipules minute, early caducous; petiole slender, 1-4 cm, glabrescent; lamina ovate-oblong, chartaceous, 5-11 by 2.5-5 cm, 3-nerved; entire, apex acuminate, base rounded to cuneate, both sides glabrous (tubicalyx Bauhinia fl/lf FT6).
Inflorescence: terminal and lateral racemes, mainly unbranched, many-flowered, up to 20 cm long; grey silky-pubescent; pedicels 15-20 mm, pubescent; bracts subulate, 2-3 mm, greyish pubescent; bracteoles minute, capillary, inserted at about the middle of the pedicel.
Flowers: Buds small, globose, greyish pubescent, 2-3 mm including the very short hypanthium (tubicalyx Bauhinia fl/lf FT6 ). Calyx campanulate with 5 minute teeth. Petals green, spathulate, subequal, c. 5 mm long including the short claw, glabrous outside, ± silky hairy inside. Stamens 3; filaments slightly longer than petals; anthers 1.5-2 mm, opening by a longitudinal slit; staminodes 7, minute, subulate. Ovary densely silky hairy, c. 3 mm long, on a short stipe; style 2 mm, glabrous below stigma; stigma oblique, discoid.
Pods unknown.
Distribution
Endemic to southernmost peninsular Thailand; might be expected further south on the Malay Peninsula.
Habitat
On limestone rocks in evergreen forests at lower altitudes.