Bauhinia
bauhinia, orchid tree
ascending [semiscandent], glabrous or young growth pubescent becoming glabrescent.
alternate, unifoliolate or bifoliolate;
stipules present, caducous [persistent];
petiolate, petiole with basal pulvinus and apical secondary and tertiary pulvini;
leaflet(s) 1 or 2, blade 2-lobate [unlobed] when unifoliolate, venation palmate, margins entire, surfaces glabrous, glabrate, or pubescent.
(1 or)2–10[–15]-flowered, terminal, subterminal, or axillary, racemes [panicles or corymbs], usually appearing after leaves;
bract 1;
bracteoles 2.
caesalpinioid;
calyx actinomorphic in bud, closed and becoming spathaceous [splitting to base into 2–5 lobes];
corolla white, pink, pinkish, or purple [green], glabrous or pubescent;
fertile stamens 1, 3, 5, or 10, monadelphous or diadelphous [distinct];
anthers dorsifixed, versatile, dehiscing longitudinally [apically or porate];
staminodes 0–9;
style filiform or stout.
legumes, stipitate, compressed, linear or narrowly ellipsoid, elongate [subreniform], dehiscent [indehiscent], pubescent, glabrate, or glabrous.
[1–]5–25[–30], oblong to subglobose [reniform], dull;
hilum crescentic, with funicular aril lobes.
= 14.
Bauhinia
Species 150–160 (4 in the flora).
Bauhinia has been treated historically as a diverse, pantropical genus of about 350 species and divided into subgenera, sections, subsections, or series (R. P. Wunderlin et al. 1987). Currently, botanists (for example, G. P. Lewis and F. Forest 2005; Wunderlin 2010) recognize it as consisting of 150–160 species. Following these workers, Phanera is treated here as distinct from Bauhinia. In the flora area, the former is easily distinguished as consisting of woody vines with axillary tendrils and the calyces split into two distinct segments, in contrast to Bauhinia, which are trees or shrubs without tendrils and with spathaceous calyces (rarely 3–5-lobed).
More than 30 species of Bauhinia are cultivated in subtropical regions from southern California to Florida (R. B. Ledin and E. A. Menninger 1956); only the four treated here are known to be naturalized in the flora area. Other commonly cultivated species include: B. acuminata Linnaeus, B. divaricata Linnaeus, B. forficata Link, B. galpinii N. E. Brown, B. monandra Kurz, and B. tomentosa Linnaeus. The Hong Kong orchid tree, a sterile hybrid of B. purpurea and B. variegata, B. × blakeana Dunn (B. purpurea × variegata ‘Blakeana’ cv, C. P. Y. Lau et al. 2005), with intermediate flowers, is also commonly cultivated.
Bauhinia species are most commonly planted as ornamentals; the young leaves, flowers, and fruits of some species have been used for food and fodder. Folk medicinal uses of leaves, bark, flowers, and fruits have been described for various species including treatments for respiratory problems, skin diseases, hemorrhoids, malaria, worms, and diabetes. A complex of chemicals (alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, lectins, and sesquiterpenes) is produced, some of which have been shown in modern studies to have medicinal potential. The bark is sometimes removed and used for cordage. The wood of some species is useful; the trees are generally too small to be of importance for timber.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Branches with intrastipular spines; fertile stamens 10. | B. aculeata |
1. Branches without intrastipular spines; fertile stamens 1, 3, or 5. | → 2 |
2. Leaves bifoliolate, or unifoliolate and blades 2-lobate 3/4+ length; fertile stamen 1. | B. lunarioides |
2. Leaves unifoliolate and blades 2-lobate 1/4–1/2 length; fertile stamens 3 or 5. | → 3 |
3. Flower buds clavate, 4- or 5-angled toward apex; fertile stamens 3. | B. purpurea |
3. Flower buds fusiform, not angled; fertile stamens 5. | B. variegata |
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