Author: Bronn
Many characters indicate that this probably is the most primitive tribe or, as Cowan (1981) suggests, an early offshoot of the Caesalpinioideae .
The alternate leaves are simple, bilobed or consisting of two free leaflets, palmately veined.
A group of only 5 genera; in Malesia Genus Bauhinia (with 69 species) is the sole genus.