Bauhinia bidentata Jack var. breviflora (Ridl.) K. & S. S. Larsen
Morphological description
This variety is close to var. bidentata but deviates in the following characters: Leaf lamina from suborbicular to broadly ovate; apex usually emarginate rarely acute-subacute. Flower buds glabrous or glabrescent. Petals with indistinct claw. Ovary shaggy-hairy along suture only.
Distribution
Malesia: all over the Malay Peninsula.
Habitat
Mainly a lowland plant.
Notes
1. Prain, (1897: 187), recognized two closely related species, Bauhinia bidentata and B.auhinia cornifolia ; in the former the ovary is described as sparsely pubescent, in the latter as densely rusty downy; some of the specimens he quoted under cornifolia, however, have an ovary apparently similar to the type of bidentata; some of the specimens he quoted under bidentata have a sparsely pubescent ovary except Wallich 5778 from Penang, which has the ovary densely hairy as the type of B. bidentata. We have, therefore, reestablished var. breviflora to acomodate part of his B. bidentata.
2. De Wit, (1956: 495), uses the length of the filaments of the fertile stamens to separate his taxa, we found that this character is not reliable as in the same flower the filaments may have different length.
3. Some collections from Selangor, e. g. J. C. 1583, have unusually larger leaves, up to 14.5-12 cm, and also larger infloresecences and flowers, the filaments are, however, hairy. Possibly these collections represent a local ecotype.