For pioneer plants, shaded habitats represent a stressful condition, where sunlight exposure is below the optimum level and so leaves expand in order to intercept a greater amount of light. We investigated changes in both phenotypic variation and stress of Bauhinia brevipes in sunny and shaded microhabitats. Leaf area was used as a measure of phenotypic variation, whereas leaf asymmetry (diff erence between right and left sides of leaves), was used as a measure of stress. We hypothesized an increase in leaf area and stress in shaded locations, which might indicate that B. brevipes was compensating for low light absorption, and elevated levels of stress, respectively. Plants in the sun fi tted a fl uctuating asymmetry pattern (normal distribution of right minus left sides), while shaded plants were clearly antisymmetric (bimodal distribution of leaf side diff erences). Leaf asymmetry and area were 5% and 26.8% higher in plants in the shade compared to plants in the sun, respectively. Th ese results were expected since B. brevipes is found predominantly in open areas; so sunlight exposure is important for its development. Th e presence of antisymmetry is rare in studies of developmental instability, and here it might indicate higher stress compared to plants with fl uctuating asymmetry.