Author: Span.
KEY TO THE VARIETIES
1a. Bracteoles near base of pedicel; pedicel c. 2 mm long; hypanthium 8-9(-10) cm long.
........................ Bauhinia ampla ampla.
1b. Bracteoles in upper part of pedicel; pedicel c. 10 mm long; hypanthium 5-7 cm long.
....................... Bauhinia ampla schlechteri.
Bauhinia ampla Span. var. ampla
Morpholigical description (see also description of Genus Bauhinia and Subgenus Bauhinia )
Tree up to 13 m high or higher (?); young shoots thinly rusty pubescent, soon glabrous.
Leaves: stipules linear, sickle-shaped, acute, subglabrous, c. 1 cm long, apparently tardily caducous; petiole up to 3 cm; lamina ovate to lanceolate, up to 22 by 11 cm; 7(-9)-nerved; apex shortly acuminate, base rounded to truncate.
Inflorescence short, terminal or lateral racemes; pedicels thick, c. 2 mm long; bracts ovate-acute, c. 2 mm; bracteoles similar, inserted at the base of the pedicel.
Flowers: Buds clavate, with claw-shaped apex, fugaciously rusty puberulous. Hypanthium stout, 8-10 cm long. Sepals 5, strap-shaped, sparsely pubescent, acute with swollen apex, 4.5-5 by 0.5 cm. Petals white, red at base, obovate, 5-9 cm long, sessile. Stamens 10 fertile; filaments 4-5.5 cm, glabrous; anthers ovate elliptic, c. 1 cm, opening by a longitudinal slit. Stipe of ovary glabrous as ovary and style; stipe emerging 3-4 cm; style c. 1 cm; stigma indistinct.
Pods glabrous, up to 30 by 7-8 cm.
Seeds up to 10, c. 2.5 cm diameter, glossy, brown.
Distribution
Malesia: Timor, only known from few localities.
Habitat
Rocky slopes up to 750 m altitude; near the sea.
Bauhinia ampla Span. var. schlechteri (Harms) K. Larsen & Sunarno
Deviates from var. ampla in becoming a larger tree up to 20-30 m. Leaves ovate to oblong, base shallowly cordate to rounded; nerves 5-7; stipules early caducous. The pedicel is longer, up to 10 mm, and the bracteoles are inserted in the upper part. Hypanthium is 5-7 cm long. Stamens perhaps somewhat shorter; stigma small, capitate.
Distribution
Malesia: endemic to New Guinea; so far known from two localities only: Albatros Bivak (Irian Jaya) and Madang Province, Papua New Guinea.
Habitat
Marshy forests or river floodplains in rain forest at low altitudes.