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Bauhinia purpurea
Also called Purple Camel's Foot, Hawaiian Orchid Tree, Hong Kong Orchid Tree, Butterfly Orchid Tree, Camel's Foot, Orchidtree, Purple Bauhinia
In Singapore: Orchid Tree, Purple Bauhinia, Butterfly Tree, Tapak Kuda, Tapak Unta, Purple Orchid Tree, Hong Kong Bauhinia, Butterfly Bauhinia, Orchid Bauhinia, 羊蹄甲 (Grown in Singapore)
Butterfly-tree is a small to medium deciduous tree from the Indian subcontinent and Myanmar, grown for its fragrant pink orchid-like flowers. It needs full sun and a warm, seasonally dry climate to flower well.
Bauhinia purpurea is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the Indian subcontinent and Myanmar, and widely introduced elsewhere in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Common names include orchid tree, purple bauhinia, camel's foot, butterfly tree, and Hawaiian orchid tree.
Native to the Indian subcontinent and Myanmar, the species has been widely introduced elsewhere in tropical and subtropical areas of the world.
The young leaves and flowers of Bauhinia purpurea are edible. In the Philippines, B. purpurea is known as alibangbang (lit. "butterfly"). The leaves have a citrusy and sour taste and are used either as a souring agent for sinigang and similar dishes, or, as a pickle condiment, in Philippine cuisine.
Dwarf White Bauhinia · Cow's-foot · African plume · Napoleon's plume · Orchid Bauhinia · Bidi Leaf Tree · St. Thomas tree · Mountain ebony · Hong Kong Orchidtree · Orchid Trees
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Bauhinia purpurea by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
