Bauhinia variegata |
Bauhinia aculeata |
|
|---|---|---|
|
butterfly tree, mountain ebony, orchid tree, purple orchid tree |
white orchid tree |
|
| Habit | Trees, to 15 m. | |
| Branches | pubescent or glabrescent. |
|
| Leaves | unifoliolate; stipules broadly lanceolate, 1–2 mm; petiole 3–4 cm, glabrous; blade broadly ovate to suborbiculate, 60–160 × 60–160 mm, 2-lobate 1/4–1/3 length, base cordate, 11–13-veined, apex of each lobe rounded, surfaces sparsely puberulous abaxially, glaucous, glabrous adaxially. |
|
| Racemes | 3–8-flowered; mostly subterminal; bract and bracteoles triangular, minute. |
|
| Pedicels | 0.5 cm. |
|
| Flowers | buds fusiform, 3–4 mm; hypanthium tubular, 15 mm; petals white or purple, obovate, subequal, 40–55 mm; fertile stamens 5; filaments shortly connate basally with staminodes, 20–40 mm; anthers 7 mm; staminodes 1–5, 2–3 mm; gynoecium arcuate, nearly equaling stamens; ovary pubescent (mainly on sutures), style and gynophore glabrous; stigma capitate. |
|
| Legumes | stipe 15 mm; linear, 200–300 × 20–25 mm. |
|
| Seeds | 10–25, brown, subglobose, 1–15 × 15 mm; funicular aril lobes subequal, 1 mm. |
|
Bauhinia variegata |
Bauhinia aculeata |
|
| Phenology | Flowering fall. | |
| Habitat | introduced also in tropical areas worldwide.. | |
| Elevation | 0–50 m. [0–160 ft.] | |
| Distribution |
FL; Asia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in tropical areas worldwide]
|
Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced, Florida] |
| Discussion | Bauhinia variegata is widely cultivated worldwide and is often naturalized, as in southern Florida. It is listed as a Category I invasive species by the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Subspecies 2 (1 in the flora). Bauhinia aculeata consists of two subspecies. The typical subspecies, to which our material is referred, naturally occurs 0–1700 m in open, tropical deciduous forests. Subspecies grandiflora (Jussieu) Wunderlin, which occurs in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru, is distinguished by larger leaves (to 120 mm) and by flowers with a conspicuously elongated hypanthium (10–)20–50(–80) mm. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
| Parent taxa | ||
| Sibling taxa | ||
| Subordinate taxa | ||
| Synonyms | B. candida, B. variegata var. alboflava, B. variegata var. candida, Phanera variegata | |
| Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 375. (1753) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 374. (1753) |
| Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. |
| Web links | ||