Maloo Creeper
Bauhinia vahlii
- Habit
- Liana
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Maloo Creeper
Identify Maloo Creeper by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a liana habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Very large leaves used for plates (maloo creeper).
- Confirm leaf type: Bilobed (two leaflets, often butterfly-shaped).
- Confirm leaf margin: Lobed.
- Confirm flower colour: White.
- Confirm fruit type: Legume.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Bauhinia vahlii
- Genus
- Bauhinia
- Family
- Caesalpiniaceae
- Habit
- Liana
- Habitat
- Common in mixed and Sal forests
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Distribution
- India, Nepal, Bhutan
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Sikkim
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf type
- Bilobed (two leaflets, often butterfly-shaped)recorded
- Leaf margin
- LobedrecordedThe edge is divided into rounded or pointed sections that don't reach the midrib.“The leaves are two-lobed, up to 46 cm (18 in) long, and almost as wide.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Maloo Creeper itself; the rest are typical of the Caesalpiniaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Whiterecorded
- Fruit type
- LegumerecordedA dry pod that splits open along two seams (typical of the pea/bean family).“The fruit is a pod 20–30 cm long.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Raceme
- Fruit
- Legume
Characters marked “recorded” are for Maloo Creeper itself; the rest are typical of the Caesalpiniaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Nepali
- भोर्ला, भोर्लो
- Bengali
- চিহুরলতা
- Telugu
- అడ్డ, అడ్డాకు
- Malayalam
- ആരമ്പുവള്ളി, Bauhinia vahlii
About Maloo Creeper
Maloo Creeper (Bauhinia vahlii) is a woody climber in the Caesalpiniaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and 16 other states. It grows in common in mixed and Sal forests. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Caesalpiniaceae
Senna family
Maloo Creeper belongs to the Caesalpiniaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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Common plant problems
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