A new species of Bauhinia from coastal areas in Northeastern Brazil

Bauhinia includes about 150 species distributed across the tropics. Most Neotropical species belong to Bauhinia ser. Cansenia that includes unarmed trees and shrubs, mostly from areas under seasonally dry climate. A new species of this series is described here from the northeastern Brazilian states of Bahia and Sergipe. Bauhinia corifolia occurs in open vegetation on sandy soils of Restinga vegetation at the Atlantic coastal forests. It is morphologically similar to B. acuruana by sharing the entire and ovate leaflet with a retuse to emarginate apex and a cordate base, but differing by its tall shrub to treelet habit, larger leaves with a glabrous and glossy upper surface, shorter bracts, and longer flowers. We provide description, illustration and distribution map for the new species.