Talk:Bikinia

The genus Bikinia was erected in 1999 to accomodate a part of the species previously part of Monopetalanthus, a genus that at that moment became a synoniem of Aphanocalyx. Bikinia species are medium-sized to large trees of the rain forests of central Africa. Like many other Detarieae Bikinia trees have a root symbiosis with ectomycorrhiza, which might explain why they occur in gregarious stands, often mixed with other species of Detarieae.

Etymology Bikinia is named after the shape of the adaxial sepals. They are partly fused to the hypanthium, this part is usually triangular because most of the hypanthium is covered by the fused bracteoles. On top of the fused part one finds the free lobes of the adaxial petals which is often bi-lobed: hence together they form the two pieces of the famous two-pieced bathing suite: a triangle and a bi-lobed part.