Cynometra lenticellata is a flowering tropical tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to tropical semi-deciduous rainforest and gallery forests in northern Queensland, some of the Torres Strait Islands, and New Guinea. Common names include: silk handkerchief tree, cascading bean, and native handkerchief tree.
Cynometra lenticellata can grow up to tall but, more commonly, only reaches . It has compound leaves with 2-4 pairs of leaflets. New leaves are folded inside dull red bracts and then released in a spectacular cascade of white foliage. The fruity-scented flowers which appear in north Queensland in September to October have 3 to 5 white-cream petals, and may be pollinated by marsupials or bats. They produce a brown pod 25–70 mm long by 18-50mm containing one brown seed in November to March. It is a favoured garden tree.Endress and Steiner-Gafner (1996), p. 262.Beasley (2009), p. 111. Cynometra lenticellata var. villosa Verdc. from New Guinea differs from var. lenticellata in having ovaries with dense, persistent hairs.
References
Beasley, John. (2009). Plants of Cape York: The Compact Guide. John Beasley, Kuranda, Qld., Australia. . Endress, Peter K. and Brigitta Steiner-Gafner. (1996). Diversity and Evolutionary Biology of Tropical Flowers. Cambridge University Press. ,
External links
General information. Images of flowering tree.