return to: checklist; keys; family Fabaceae sensu lato subfamily Caesalpinioideae

Bauhinia divaricata L.; pata de vaca

Shrub or small tree; leaves alternate, simple, broadly bi-lobed at the apex; flowers in terminal racemes; petals white as the flower opens, aging to pale pink; fertile stamens 1 or 2 per flower, long-exserted; legume fruits flattish, smooth, stipitate, usually with a few seeds at the distal end, the outline thus narrowly obovate.

Additional images:

• leaf and senescent (pink) flowers
• leaf and fruit

Bauhinia ungulata is similar but can be distinguished by leaf lobes more sharply acute and, similarly, the sinus between the leaf lobes also more sharply acute. Further, flowers of Bauhinia ungulata typically have 10 fertile stamens.