2436

12(3): Medicinal and poisonous plants 3

Bauhinia tomentosa L.

This article should be read together with the article on the genus: Bauhinia in the Handbook volume indicated above in this database.

Sp. pl. 1: 375 (1753).

Bauhinia pubescens DC. (1827).

Indonesia: kupu-kupu (Javanese), tali kancu (Sundanese). Philippines: baho-baho (Tagalog). Thailand: chongkho dok luean (Bangkok). Vietnam: m[os]ng b[of] v[af]ng.

Originating from Africa and continental Asia, Bauhinia tomentosa is only found in cultivation throughout South-East Asia.

In Madura a poultice of the leaves is used to treat ulcers. In India, the bruised bark is externally applied to tumours and wounds. A decoction of the root bark is administered against inflammation of the liver. A decoction of the root bark is also used as a vermifuge. An infusion is used as an astringent gargle. Dried flower buds are prescribed in dysenteric affections. The fruit is diuretic and the seeds are credited with tonic and aphrodisiac action. The plant is also used in veterinary medicine. In Java the leaves are eaten as a vegetable.

A shrub or small tree up to 8 m tall, young branches brownish pubescent; leaves suborbicular, 4—8 cm x 4—8 cm, bifid for up to 1/3—1/2, base truncate to shallowly cordate, apex of lobes rounded, 7—9-veined, glabrous above, pubescent below, stipules linear, up to 1 cm long; inflorescence a lateral raceme, short, few-flowered; flower buds fusiform, 2 cm long, puberulous, hypanthium turbinate, calyx splitting spathaceous, petals broadly ovate, subequal, 4—5 cm long, short-clawed, yellow, or yellow with dark purple blotch on the median petal, stamens 10, all fertile, unequal; fruit linear, flat, 7—15 cm x 1—1.5 cm, velutinous, c. 5-seeded, dehiscent; seeds suborbicular, up to 1 cm in diameter.

[121]Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Revised reprint. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co- operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol. 1 (A—H) pp. 1—1240, Vol. 2 (I— Z) pp. 1241—2444.
[178]Corner, E.J.H., 1988. Wayside trees of Malaya. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. The Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 774 pp.
[206]de Wit, H.C.D., 1956. A revision of Malaysian Bauhinieae. Reinwardtia 3: 381—539.
[247]Flora Malesiana (various editors), 1950—. Foundation Flora Malesiana. Rijksherbarium/Hortus Botanicus, Leiden, the Netherlands.
[334]Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, 's-Gravenhage, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 1660 + CCXLI pp.
[731]Perry, L.M., 1980. Medicinal plants of East and Southeast Asia. Attributed properties and uses. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States & London, United Kingdom. 620 pp.
[760]Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.
[965]Verdcourt, B., 1979. A manual of New Guinea legumes. Botany Bulletin No 11. Office of Forests, Division of Botany, Lae, Papua New Guinea. 645 pp.

J.W.A. Ridder-Numan

Ridder-Numan, J.W.A., 2003. Bauhinia tomentosa L.. In: Lemmens, R.H.M.J. and Bunyapraphatsara, N. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 12(3): Medicinal and poisonous plants 3. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea