ONE-STAMENED BAUHINIA Bauhinia monandra Kurz. (Order: Leguminosae). Bauhinia in honour of two German botanists of the 16th century.

John and Caspar Bauhin. Monandra refers to the single fertile stamen. Description: A small deciduous tree attaining a height of 20 to 25 ft. Leaves simple, bilobed, somewhat rounder very broadly ovate, long by wide, tips of the lobes blunt, base truncated, thin and papery in texture, nerves 11 to 13 arising from the base, Flowers arranged in short terminal, softly hairy racemes at the end of the branches, large opening singly or in pairs. Calyx sheath-like, softly downy externally. Petals 5, 1.5 to 2 in. by 0.5 in. Or more wide, obovate, tip rounded, base narrowed margins crinkled, one of the petals, the standard, is more colourful than the others. Stamens only 1 fully developed, hence the scientific name, as long as the petals. Fruit a pod, 6 to 8 in. long by f to 1 in. broad, ending in a long beak. Distribution: Burma, Mataban. Frequently cultivated. Gardening: Propagated by seed. An ornamental tree. Uses: None known. Note: This Bauhinia is frequently mistaken for another member of the genus, B. variegata, from which it differs greatly in the texture of the leaves and the colour of the flower. About Bombay the flowers appear about March or April together with the young leaves and the tree continues to flower till about October, but not in such profusion as when it first flowers.