ABSTRACT
This treatment provides a key to identification, synonymy, description, geographic distribution and habitat, taxonomic comments for 35 species and 4 varieties of Bauhinia sect. Pauletia ser. Cansenia, native to Brazil. Besides this, the introdutory chapter offers a preliminary study of the morphological characters and interspecific relationship of studied taxa. The taxonomic treatment presented is based on more than 1200 herbarium collections and several duplicates (sheets) of most of these collections of more than 60 herbaria. Taxonomic characters were also observed on trees of 3 species cultivated at Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro. Field observations were made at Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Goiás states and Federal District. Two new occurrences of species for Brazil − B. cinnamomea e B. conwayi − are recorded. A new name (replacement name) - Three new combinations are proposed. Twenty nine taxonomic (heterotypic) synonyms are accepted and 25 of them are presented here for the first time. The distribution of the studied taxa of Bauhinia ser. Cansenia is shown in 9 maps. Nineteen illustrative plates are presented.
Key words:
Leguminosae; Bauhinia; Taxonomy; Brazil