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Bauhinia variegata
Also called Orchidtree, Camel's Foot Tree
Bauhinia variegata is a small to medium deciduous tree from Asia, grown for its showy pink or white orchid-like flowers. It is happiest in full sun with a dry season, and it can self-seed and become invasive in some areas.
Bauhinia variegata is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is native to an area from China through Southeast Asia to the Indian subcontinent. Common names include orchid tree (though not belonging to the family Orchidaceae) and mountain ebony.
This is a very popular ornamental tree in subtropical and tropical climates, grown for its scented flowers and also used as a food item in many South Asian cuisines. In the Neotropics, it can be used to attract hummingbirds—such as sapphire-spangled emerald (Amazilia lactea), glittering-bellied emerald (Chlorostilbon lucidus), or white-throated hummingbird (Leucochloris albicollis)—into gardens and parks. On the other hand, in some areas it has become naturalised and invasive as the tree can produce abundant seed pods that may self-sow; therefore regarded as potentially invasive.
They are found throughout the Southeast Asia, South Asia and southern China. They inhabit in dry broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf forests (including rainforests) in tropical, subtropical, including in Himalayan foothills. It is distributed across South Central China, Southeast Asia, South Asia.
Kachnar, Kovidara, Koiralo, Kanchan are local names in the Indian subcontinent for the edible buds collected from the tree; it is widely used as an ingredient in many subcontinent recipes. Traditional kachnar curry is prepared using kachnar buds, yogurt, onions and native spices. Kachnar buds are also eaten as a stir-fried vegetable and used to make achaar, a pickle in many parts of the Indian sub-continent. It shows a good antioxidant and anticancer activity.
Dwarf White Bauhinia · Cow's-foot · African plume · Napoleon's plume · Orchid Bauhinia · Butterfly-tree · Bidi Leaf Tree · St. Thomas tree · Hong Kong Orchidtree · Orchid Trees
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Bauhinia variegata 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.
