Bauhinia purpurea L.

  • Authority

    Isley, Duane. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25 (2): 1-228.

  • Family

    Caesalpiniaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Bauhinia purpurea L.

  • Description

    Species Description - Shrub or tree. Leaves simple, suborbicular to oval, cordate or not, 7-15 cm, 1-1.2 r, cleft 1/3-1/2 with rounded to acute lobes, glabrous below, rarely puberulent. Flowers in simple or compound, lateral or terminal, sometimes elongate, puberulent racemes. Pedicels 2-5 mm; hypanthium .5-1 cm; calyx oblanceolate, 2.5-4 cm, strongly ribbed, splitting along more than one line; petals pink to red or violet, 4-5 cm long, 1.5(-2) cm wide, oblanceolate, long-clawed, not overlapping; functional stamens 3; pistil strigulose; stigma conspicuous, oblique. Legume slowly elastically dehiscent, stipitate, oblong, flat to 2(-2.5) dm long, 1.5-2.2(-2.5) cm wide, woody. Seeds few-many.

  • Discussion

    B. grandiceps Hort. B. rosea Hort. B. violacea Hort. B. triandra Hort. B. kurzii Hort. CN 2n = 28 (Raghaven, 1957). n = 14 (Sharma and Raju, 1968; Bir and Sidhu, 1966; and others). Considerable U.S. material of B. purpurea has been available but it is largely of introduction and botanical gardens of subtropical Florida. Avery (in litt.) says that it is common in south Florida and that it volunteers in botanic gardens and parks. Bauhinia purpurea Hort. of south Texas and California is mostly B. variegata. Bauhinia purpurea usually flowers while leaves are yet on the tree in fall to winter. Bauhinia variegata blooms primarily from late winter to early spring usually after leaves have fallen and before new ones develop.

  • Distribution

    S Florida, slightly in Texas and California. Cult, ornamental. Oct.-Dec. Orchid tree. S Asia and introduced elsewhere in tropics.

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