Author: Miquel
Morphological description (see also description of Genus Bauhinia ; Subgenus Phanera and Section Lysiphyllum )
(diptera Bauh Reinw f5 )
Large liana with coarse tendrils; young branches terete, glabrous.
Leaves bifoliolate; stipules oblong, puberulous, 5-7 by 2 mm, early caducous; petiole 6-20 cm long, produced into a small, caducous mucro; leaflets 2, ovate-oblong, often strongly unequalsided; apex short to long acuminate, 12-30(-40) by 7-10(-14) cm; nerves 4-5, strongly developed and connected by many conspicuous, straight, transverse, secondary nerves; glabrous on upper surface, thinly pubescent to almost glabrous on lower.
Inflorescence: lateral, usually simple racemes, 20-40 cm long, with stout, brownish tomentose axis; pedicels 5-25 mm, densely light brown tomentose; bracts large, ovate, up to 13 by 8 mm, tomentose particularly on the outer side; bracteoles similar, inserted on top of the pedicel and enclosing the bud.
Flowers: (diptera Bauhinia fl/bud FM13) Buds ovoid, ridged, brownish tomentose, c. 10 mm including the c. 3 mm long, broad campanulate hypanthium. Calyx splitting into 2-3 ovate-acute lobes, c. 15 mm long, glabrous inside. Petals whitish, streaked with purple, subequal, ovate, woolly-tomentose outside, short clawed, c. 25 mm long. Stamens 10: 5 long with filament c. 25 mm, 5 short with filament c. 10 mm; filaments hairy at base; anthers ellipsoid, c. 5 mm, opening by a longitudinal slit. Ovary glabrous, 10-15 mm, on a 10-12 mm long stipe; style c. 10 mm; stigma small, capitate.
Pods strap-shaped, broadest at apex, explosively dehiscent, glabrous, flat, up to 20 by 4.5 cm.
Seeds c. 4, flat, orbicular, c. 2.5 cm diameter.
Distribution
Malesia: endemic to the northern part of Borneo (see note).
Habitat
A large tree-top liana on the edges of streams at low altitudes.
Vernacular names
Lumapak (Tengara), Koripit (Kedayan), Karipioh (Sungei), Lapieu (Tidung), Lepes (E Borneo).
Note
A sterile specimen, Corner s. n., 5 August 1939 (SING), collected in Johore, Bukit Tinjan Laut, belongs here; whether this has been introduced or is really indigenous here remains to be studied.