20. Bauhinia venustula T. C. Chen, Guihaia. 8: 45. 1988.
小巧羊蹄甲 xiao qiao yang ti jia
Lianas, woody. Tendrils solitary or in pairs; stems slender, with dense, small, light brownish pits. Stipules caducous; petiole 0.6-2 cm, slender, glabrous; leaf blade adaxially shiny, broadly ovate or suborbicular, 1.5-4 × 1.4-4 cm, subleathery, abaxially subglabrous, adaxially glabrous, primary veins 5-7, veins thin and dense, convex on both surfaces, base truncate to shallowly cordate, entire, emarginate, or shallowly bifid (to less than 1/6); lobes obtuse at apex. Inflorescence a raceme, terminal or lateral, 5-9 cm; flowers densely arranged; bracts lanceolate, ca. 1.8 mm; bracteoles inserted below middle of pedicels, ca. 0.8 mm. Pedicel short, 4-6 mm, pubescent. Flower buds not known. Receptacle funnelform; calyx lobes 5, erect at anthesis, ovate, ca. 2 mm, pubescent, acute. Petals white, obovate or oblong, ca. 2.5 mm, outside with hairs on midvein, with prominent claw ca. 1.5 mm. Fertile stamens 3. Staminodes 2 or 3. Ovary stalked, oblique, hairy on sutures and at base; style glabrous; stigma small. Legume oblong, compressed, glabrous when mature; valves leathery, smooth. Fl. Oct, fr. Dec.
● Open forests on hills. Guangxi.