3528.000 Bauhinia L. - Orchid trees

Schmidt, E.J.D. (2012) A new species of Bauhinia from southern Mozambique and the reinstatement of Bauhinia macrantha Bothalia 42(1) 44-47

Description of the genus

Shrubs or small trees, sometimes scrambling or climbing. Tendrils 0, but branches sometimes coiling in a tendril-like manner. Leaves alternate, simple, conspicuously 2-lobed. Flowers usually large and showy, bisexual, in short racemes or solitary. Calyx spathaceous. Petals 5, free. Fertile stamens 1-10, sometimes accompanied by staminodes. Stigma capitate or small. Pods oblong-linear, woody, dehiscent. Seeds flat.

Derivation of name: Named, because of the 2-lobed leaves, after two Swiss botanists, Jean and Caspar Bauhin.

Worldwide: 300 species, pantropical.

Mozambique: 4 cultivated taxa.

Insects associated with this genus:
Achaea catella (Banded achaea) Larval food plant
Micraphe lateritia (Rosy slug) Larval foodplant
Rhodesia viridalbata (Frosted emerald) Food plant
No image of a cultivated species but there is an image of a native or naturalised species

Links to cultivated taxa    View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesContent
monandra Kurz
purpurea L.
variegata L. var. candida VoigtDescription, Image
variegata L. var. variegata Description, Image

Other sources of information about Bauhinia:

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Bauhinia
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Bauhinia
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Bauhinia
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Bauhinia
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Bauhinia
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Bauhinia
JSTOR Plant Science: Bauhinia
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Bauhinia
Plants of the World Online: Bauhinia
Tropicos: Bauhinia
Wikipedia: Bauhinia

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2007-25

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2025). Flora of Mozambique: Cultivated plants: genus page: Bauhinia.
https://www.mozambiqueflora.com/cult/genus.php?genus_id=689, retrieved 2 April 2025

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