Bauhinia Explained

Bauhinia ^[1] is a large genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Cercidoideae^[2] and tribe Bauhinieae,^[3] in the large flowering plant family Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution. The genus was named after the Bauhin brothers Gaspard and Johann, Swiss-French botanists.

Many species are widely planted in the tropics as orchid trees, particularly in India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Nepal and southeastern China. Other common names include mountain ebony and kachnar. Before the family was reorganised,^[2] a number of genera including the lianas of genus Phanera were placed here (see related genera).In the United States, the trees grow in Hawaii, coastal California, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. There are native species, like Bauhinia lunarioides native to Texas and widely planted in the Southwest as a landscape plant.^[4]

Parts of some species of bauhinia like B. purpurea and B. malabarica are used in Filipino cuisine (known collectively as alinbánban or alinbángbang,^[5] "butterfly").^[6]

Bauhinia × blakeana is the floral emblem of Hong Kong—a stylized orchid tree flower appears on the flag of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Airlines (formerly CR Airways) uses 'Bauhinia' as its radio callsign in air traffic communication.

Description

Bauhinia trees typically reach a height of 6–12 m and their branches spread 3–6 m outwards. The lobed leaves usually are 10–15 cm across.

The five-petaled flowers are 7.5–12.5 cm diameter, generally in shades of red, pink, purple, orange, or yellow, and are often fragrant. The tree begins flowering in late winter and often continues to flower into early summer. Depending on the species, Bauhinia flowers are usually in magenta, mauve, pink or white hues with crimson highlights.

Cultivation

Propagation of Bauhinia species is from seeds or cuttings. They thrive in alkaline soils and do not tolerate salty conditions. Full sun exposure is preferred but they can be grown under partial sun. Generous watering is needed during summer; moderate moisture required in winter.

Species

Accepted species

Plants of the World Online currently (March 2023) includes the following species:^{[7] [8] [9]}

1. Bauhinia acreana Harms
2. Bauhinia aculeata L.
3. Bauhinia acuminata L.
4. Bauhinia acuruana Moric.
5. Bauhinia affinis Vogel
6. Bauhinia albicans Vogel
7. Bauhinia amambayensis Fortunato
8. Bauhinia amatlana Wunderlin
9. Bauhinia andrade-limae
10. Bauhinia andrieuxii Hemsl.
11. Bauhinia ankarafantsikae Du Puy & R.Rabev.
12. Bauhinia anomala Hassl.
13. Bauhinia arborea Wunderlin
14. Bauhinia argentinensis Burkart
15. Bauhinia arleneae
16. Bauhinia augusti Harms
17. Bauhinia aurantiaca Bojer
18. Bauhinia aureopunctata Ducke
19. Bauhinia ayabacensis Wunderlin
20. Bauhinia bartlettii B.L.Turner
21. Bauhinia bauhinioides (Mart.) J.F.Macbr.
22. Bauhinia beguinotii Cufod.
23. Bauhinia bicolor (Bong.) D.Dietr.
24. Bauhinia bohniana H.Y.Chen
25. Bauhinia bombaciflora Ducke
26. Bauhinia bowkeri Harv.
27. Bauhinia brachycalyx Ducke
28. Bauhinia brachycarpa Wall. ex Benth.
29. Bauhinia brevicalyx Du Puy & R.Rabev.
30. Bauhinia brevipes Vogel
31. Bauhinia bryoniflora Franch.
32. Bauhinia burchellii Benth.
33. Bauhinia burrowsii E.J.D.Schmidt
34. Bauhinia buscalionii Mattei
35. Bauhinia calliandroides Rusby
36. Bauhinia caloneura Malme
37. Bauhinia calycina Pierre ex Gagnep.
38. Bauhinia campestris Malme
39. Bauhinia candelabriformis R.S.Cowan
40. Bauhinia capuronii Du Puy & R.Rabev.
41. Bauhinia catingae Harms
42. Bauhinia chapulhuacania Wunderlin
43. Bauhinia cheilantha (Bong.) Steud.
44. Bauhinia cinnamomea DC.
45. Bauhinia coclensis R.Torres
46. Bauhinia conceptionis Britton & Killip
47. Bauhinia concinna Drake
48. Bauhinia conwayi Rusby
49. Bauhinia cookii Rose
50. Bauhinia corifolia L.P.Queiroz
51. Bauhinia corniculata Benth.
52. Bauhinia coulteri J.F.Macbr.
53. Bauhinia crocea Drake
54. Bauhinia cupulata Benth.
55. Bauhinia curvula Benth.
56. Bauhinia darainensis Thulin & Nusb.
57. Bauhinia decandra Du Puy & R.Rabev.
58. Bauhinia decora L.Uribe
59. Bauhinia deserti (Britton & Rose) Lundell
60. Bauhinia dimorphophylla Hoehne
61. Bauhinia dipetala Hemsl.
62. Bauhinia diptera Blume ex Miq.
63. Bauhinia divaricata L.
64. Bauhinia dubia G.Don
65. Bauhinia dumosa Benth.
66. Bauhinia eilertsii Pulle
67. Bauhinia ellenbeckii Harms
68. Bauhinia erythrocalyx Wunderlin
69. Bauhinia esmeraldasensis Wunderlin
70. Bauhinia estrellensis Hassl.
71. Bauhinia eucosma S.F.Blake
72. Bauhinia euryantha H.Y.Chen
73. Bauhinia exellii Torre & Hillc.
74. Bauhinia eximia Miq.
75. Bauhinia farec Desv.
76. Bauhinia flagelliflora Wunderlin
77. Bauhinia floribunda Desv.
78. Bauhinia forficata Link
79. Bauhinia fryxellii Wunderlin
80. Bauhinia funchiana Vaz & G.P.Lewis
81. Bauhinia fusconervis (Bong.) Steud.
82. Bauhinia galpinii N.E.Br.
83. Bauhinia gardneri Benth.
84. Bauhinia geniculata Wunderlin
85. Bauhinia gilesii F.Muell. & F.M.Bailey
86. Bauhinia glaziovii Taub.
87. Bauhinia godefroyi Gagnep.
88. Bauhinia goyazensis Harms
89. Bauhinia grandidieri Baill.
90. Bauhinia grandifolia (Bong.) D.Dietr.
91. Bauhinia grevei Drake
92. Bauhinia gypsicola McVaugh
93. Bauhinia hagenbeckii Harms
94. Bauhinia hainanensis Merr. & Chun ex H.Y.Chen
95. Bauhinia haughtii Wunderlin
96. Bauhinia hildebrandtii Vatke
97. Bauhinia hirsuta Weinm.
98. Bauhinia holophylla (Bong.) Steud.
99. Bauhinia hostmanniana Miq.
100. Bauhinia humilis Rusby
101. Bauhinia integerrima Mart. ex Benth.
102. Bauhinia involucrans Gagnep.
103. Bauhinia isopetala Griff.
104. Bauhinia jenningsii P.Wilson
105. Bauhinia jucunda Brandegee
106. Bauhinia kalantha Harms
107. Bauhinia kleiniana Burkart
108. Bauhinia leptantha Malme
109. Bauhinia leucantha Thulin
110. Bauhinia longicuspis Spruce ex Benth.
111. Bauhinia longifolia (Bong.) Steud.
112. Bauhinia longipedicellata Ducke
113. Bauhinia longiracemosa Hayata
114. Bauhinia lorantha Pierre ex Gagnep.
115. Bauhinia lunarioides A.Gray ex S.Watson
116. Bauhinia macrantha Oliv.
117. Bauhinia macranthera Benth. ex Hemsl.
118. Bauhinia madagascariensis Desv.
119. Bauhinia malacotricha Harms
120. Bauhinia malacotrichoides R.S.Cowan
121. Bauhinia malmeana Vaz & G.P.Lewis
122. Bauhinia marginata (Bong.) Steud.
123. Bauhinia melastomatoidea R.Torres
124. Bauhinia membranacea Benth.
125. Bauhinia mendoncae Torre & Hillc.
126. Bauhinia miriamae R.Torres
127. Bauhinia mollis (Bong.) D.Dietr.
128. Bauhinia mombassae Vatke
129. Bauhinia monandra Kurz
130. Bauhinia moningerae Merr.
131. Bauhinia morondavensis Du Puy & R.Rabev.
132. Bauhinia multinervia (Kunth) DC.
133. Bauhinia natalensis Oliv.
134. Bauhinia ombrophila Du Puy & R.Rabev.
135. Bauhinia ovata (Bong.) Vogel
136. Bauhinia oxysepala Gagnep.
137. Bauhinia pansamalana Donn.Sm.
138. Bauhinia parkinsonii C.E.C.Fisch.
139. Bauhinia parviloba Ducke
140. Bauhinia pauletia Pers.
141. Bauhinia pentandra (Bong.) Vogel ex D.Dietr.
142. Bauhinia pervilleana Baill.
143. Bauhinia pes-caprae Cav.
144. Bauhinia petersiana Bolle
145. Bauhinia petiolata (Mutis ex DC.) Triana ex Hook.
146. Bauhinia phoenicea B.Heyne ex Wight & Arn.
147. Bauhinia pichinchensis Wunderlin
148. Bauhinia picta (Kunth) DC.
149. Bauhinia pinheiroi Wunderlin
150. Bauhinia pinnata Blanco
151. Bauhinia piresii Vaz & G.P.Lewis
152. Bauhinia platypetala Burch. ex Benth.
153. Bauhinia platyphylla Benth.
154. Bauhinia podopetala Baker
155. Bauhinia pottsii G.Don
156. Bauhinia prainiana Craib
157. Bauhinia pringlei S.Watson
158. Bauhinia proboscidea P.Juárez, Rod.Flores & M.A.Blanco
159. Bauhinia pulchella Benth.
160. Bauhinia purpurea L.
161. Bauhinia racemosa Lam.
162. Bauhinia ramirezii Reynoso
163. Bauhinia ramosissima Benth. ex Hemsl.
164. Bauhinia retifolia Standl.
165. Bauhinia richardiana DC.
166. Bauhinia rubeleruziana Donn.Sm.
167. Bauhinia rufa (Bong.) Steud.
168. Bauhinia rufescens Lam.
169. Bauhinia saccocalyx Pierre
170. Bauhinia saksuwaniae Mattapha, Chantar. & Suddee
171. Bauhinia seleriana Harms
172. Bauhinia seminarioi Harms ex Eggers
173. Bauhinia smilacifolia Burch. ex Benth.
174. Bauhinia stenantha Diels
175. Bauhinia subclavata Benth.
176. Bauhinia subrotundifolia Cav.
177. Bauhinia taitensis Taub.
178. Bauhinia tarapotensis Benth.
179. Bauhinia tenella Benth.
180. Bauhinia thailandica Chatan & Promprom
181. Bauhinia thompsonii I.M.Johnst.
182. Bauhinia tomentosa L.
183. Bauhinia tuichiensis Cayola & A.Fuentes
184. Bauhinia uberlandiana Vaz & G.P.Lewis
185. Bauhinia ungulata L.
186. Bauhinia urbaniana Schinz
187. Bauhinia uruguayensis Benth.
188. Bauhinia variegata L.
189. Bauhinia vespertilio S.Moore
190. Bauhinia viridescens Desv.
191. Bauhinia weberbaueri Harms
192. Bauhinia wunderlinii R.Torres
193. Bauhinia xerophyta Du Puy & R.Rabev.

Hybrids

One hybrid is known:

• Bauhinia × blakeana S. T. Dunn (Bauhinia variegata × Bauhinia purpurea)—Hong Kong orchid tree

Fossils

Several fossils of Bauhinia species have been discovered:

• †Bauhinia cheniae Qi Wang, Z. Q. Song, Y. F. Chen, S. Shen & Z. Y. Li^[10]
• †Bauhinia cretacea Newberry^[11]
• †Bauhinia fotana F.M.B. Jacques et al.^[12]
• †Bauhinia gigantea Newberry^[13]
• †Bauhinia gracilis J.R. Tao^[14]
• †Bauhinia larsenii D.X. Zhang & Y. F. Chen^[15]
• †Bauhinia ningmingensis Qi Wang, Z. Q. Song, Y. F. Chen, S. Shen & Z. Y. Li^[10]
• †Bauhinia potosiana Berry^[16]
• †Bauhinia thonningii Schum.^[17]
• †Bauhinia ungulatoides Y.X.Lin, W.O.Wong, G.L.Shi, S.Shen & Z.Y.Li^[18]
• †Bauhinia wenshanensis H.H. Meng & Z.K. Zhou^[19]
• †Bauhinia wyomingiana Brown^{[20] [21]}

Segregated genera

Species in the genera Barklya, Gigasiphon, Lysiphyllum, Phanera (including Lasiobema), Piliostigma, Schnella, and Tylosema are sometimes included in Bauhinia sensu lato or considered as tribe Bauhinieae.

Notes and References

1. Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607; OED: "Bauhinia"
2. The Legume Phylogeny Working Group (LPWG). . 2017 . A new subfamily classification of the Leguminosae based on a taxonomically comprehensive phylogeny . . 66 . 1 . 44–77 . 10.12705/661.3. free . 10568/90658 . free .
3. The genus Bauhinia s.l. (Leguminosae): a phylogeny based on the plastid trnL–trnF region . 2009 . Sinou C, Forest F, Lewis GP, Bruneau A . . 87 . 10 . 947–960 . 10.1139/B09-065 .
4. Web site: SEINet Portal Network - Bauhinia lunarioides.
5. Book: Merrill . Elmer Drew . A dictionary of the plant names of the Philippine Islands . 1903 . . 128 . University of Michigan Digital Collections.
6. Book: Seidemann . Johannes . World Spice Plants . 2005 . Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg . Berlin, Heidelberg . 9783540279082 . 64.
7. Web site: Plants of the World Online entry for Bauhinia . 2023 . . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 5 September 2023.
8. Web site: ILDIS LegumeWeb entry for Bauhinia . . International Legume Database & Information Service . Cardiff School of Computer Science & Informatics . 8 May 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140517100307/http://www.ildis.org/ . 17 May 2014 .
9. Web site: GRIN species records of Bauhinia . . 5 May 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150924095645/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?1337 . 2015-09-24 .
10. Wang Q, Song Z, Chen Y, Shen S, Li Z . 2014 . Leaves and fruits of Bauhinia (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae, Cercideae) from the Oligocene Ningming Formation of Guangxi, South China and their biogeographic implications . BMC Evolutionary Biology . 14 . 1 . 88 . 10.1186/1471-2148-14-88 . 24758153 . 4101841 . free . 2014BMCEE..14...88W .
11. Book: Bell W-A. . 1963 . Upper Cretaceous Floras of the Dunvegan, Bad Heart, and Milk River Formations of Western Canada . 94th . Canada . Dept. of Mines and Technical Surveys.
12. Jacques FM, Shi GL, Su T, Zhou ZK . 2015 . A tropical forest of the middle Miocene of Fujian (SE China) reveals Sino-Indian biogeographic affinities . Rev Palaeobot Palynol . 216 . 76–91 . 10.1016/j.revpalbo.2015.02.001. 2015RPaPa.216...76J .
13. Book: Bell W-A. . 1957 . Flora of the Upper Cretaceous Nanaimo Group of Vancouver Island . British Columbia . E. Cloutier . 1–84 . 10.4095/101457 . 2017-03-06 . 2017-03-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170307050452/http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/11368bff-ed80-556e-929c-3b5d14d75bb2 . dead .
14. Book: Tao JR, Zhou ZK, Liu YS . 2000 . The Evolution of the Late Cretaceous–Cenozoic floras in China . Science Press . Beijing .
15. Chen YF, Zhang DX . 2005 . Bauhinia larsenii, a fossil legume from Guangxi, China . Bot J Linn Soc . 147 . 4 . 437–440 . 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2005.00373.x. free .
16. Berry E-W. . 1917 . Fossil plants from Bolivia and their bearing upon the age of uplift of the eastern Andes . Proc US Natl Mus . 54 . 2229 . 103–164 . 10.5479/si.00963801.54-2229.103. 10088/15029 .
17. Eisenmann V. . 1994 . Equidae of the Albertine rift valley, Uganda . Geol Paleobiol Albertine Rift Valley, Uganda-Zaire . 2 . 289–307.
18. Lin YX, Wong WO, Shi GL, Shen S, Li ZY . 2015 . Bilobate leaves of Bauhinia (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae, Cercideae) from the middle Miocene of Fujian Province, southeastern China and their biogeographic implications . BMC Evolutionary Biology . 15 . 1 . 252 . 10.1186/s12862-015-0540-9. 26572133 . 4647482 . free . 2015BMCEE..15..252L .
19. Meng HH, Jacques FM, Su T, Huang YJ, Zhang ST, Ma HJ, Zhou ZK . 2014 . New biogeographic insight into Bauhinia s.l. (Leguminosae): Integration from fossil records and molecular analyses . BMC Evolutionary Biology . 14 . 1 . 181 . 10.1186/s12862-014-0181-4 . 25288346 . 4360257 . free . 2014BMCEE..14..181M .
20. Knowlton F-H. . 1899 . Fossil flora of the Yellowstone National Park . US Geol Surv Mon . 32 . 651–791.
21. Wilf P. . 2000 . Late Paleocene–early Eocene climate changes in southwestern Wyoming: Paleobotanical analysis . Geol Soc Am Bull . 112 . 2 . 292–307 . 10.1130/0016-7606(2000)112<292:LPECCI>2.0.CO;2. 2000GSAB..112..292W .