S. Gower del.
Plate 79.
BAUHINIA Galpinii.
Transvaal.
Leguminosae. Tribe Bauhinieae.
Bauhinia, Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. i. p. 575.
Bauhinia Galpinii, N. E. Br. in Gard. Chron., 1891, p. 728; Hook. Ic. Pl. t. 19.
This handsome Bauhinia, known in the Transvaal as “The Pride of de Kaap,” is a common plant in the low veld east of the Drakensberg. It is a low half-climbing bush, and when in flower is a striking object in the veld, the bright red flowers standing out in sharp contrast to the surrounding vegetation. Specimens were first sent to Kew in 1880 by Mr. T. Nelson, and later Mr. E. E. Galpin sent material which he collected at Barberton. The plant lends itself to cultivation, and may be kept as a trimmed bush in lawns, etc. If left to grow unchecked it becomes very lanky. Our plate was prepared from a specimen growing in the garden of the Division of Botany, Pretoria, and the plant has grown to a height of about 30 ft. up a tree of Cupressus sempervirens, var. pyramidalis. In cultivation, at least in Pretoria, very few seeds are produced. Specimens are preserved in the National Herbarium, Pretoria (Herb. No. 1601).