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

Bauhinia ungulata L.; pata de vaca

Tree; leaves alternate, simple, and acutely bilobed (lobes and sinus between the lobes forming acute angles); flowers in terminal clusters, often borne in pairs, bilaterally symmetric; petals white, aging to pink; stamens 10, long-exserted; ovary long-stipitate; legume fruits elongate, tape-like in outline.

Additional images:

• young (white) flowers
• senescent (pink) flowers
• leaves and fruit
• bark

Very similar to Bauhinia divaricata which differs in its somewhat more shrubby habit and broader leaf lobes that diverge from each other at a greater angle (more obtuse or more divaricate). Further, flowers of Bauhinia divaricata bear only one or two fertile stamens.

 Listed as an important source of pollen and/or nectar for bees (Souza Novello 1981).