Phanera is a genus of climbing flowering plants — vines and lianas — in the legume family Fabaceae, placed in the subfamily Cercidoideae and the tribe Bauhinieae. With approximately 47 species recognised in current treatments, the genus is distributed across the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, spanning tropical and subtropical Asia through to the western Pacific.
Members of Phanera are distinguished from the closely related genus Bauhinia by their climbing habit, the presence of tendrils, and a lobed rather than spathaceous calyx. They are further separated from Schnella — a morphologically similar liana genus — by having only three fertile stamens rather than ten, and by their Old World distribution (Schnella is restricted to the Americas). The genus has undergone considerable recent revision: the subsection Corymbosae was segregated into the new genus Cheniella, and it has been proposed that Lasiobema be reduced to a section within Phanera. The type species, Phanera coccinea, is a striking liana bearing vivid red flowers and is native to Indochina and southern China.
Distribution
Phanera species are native to the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, with the centre of diversity in tropical and subtropical Asia — including southern China, Indochina, the Malay Peninsula, and the Indonesian archipelago.
Taxonomy Notes
Phanera belongs to subfamily Cercidoideae (Fabaceae), tribe Bauhinieae, and is closely allied to Bauhinia and Schnella. Recent molecular work prompted the segregation of subsection Corymbosae into the separate genus Cheniella, and proposals have been made to absorb Lasiobema as a section within Phanera. The name Phanera Lour. (1790) predates some competing generic names in the complex but its circumscription has varied between authorities.
