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Lysiphyllum cunninghamii
Also called Bean Tree, Bohemia Tree, Jigal Tree, Red Bauhinia, Jigaltree
Kimberley bauhinia (Lysiphyllum cunninghamii) is a seasonally dry tropical shrub or tree from northern Australia, grown mainly for its showy red flowers and as a drought-tolerant shade or fodder tree. It drops its leaves in the dry season and needs a warm, sunny spot with well-drained sandy or loamy soil.
Lysiphyllum cunninghamii (commonly known as the Kimberley bauhinia or the jigal tree) is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is native to northern Australia where it occurs from Western Australia through the Northern Territory to Queensland.
It occurs on red alluvial sandy and loamy soils, often in watercourses and on levees, flood plains, pindan and the margins of monsoonal forests. It is found in the Central Kimberley, Dampierland, Gascoyne, Great Sandy Desert, Northern Kimberley, Ord Victoria Plain, Pilbara and Victoria Bonaparte, Katherine Region, IBRA bioregions.
The leaves and pods are high in protein and minerals, and are used as fodder for stock. The dense, weeping habit means that wallabies and other animals use the trees to shelter from the heat of the day. Fires made from the wood are smokeless, and so the wood is often used for cooking. Windbreaks are made from the branches.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Lysiphyllum cunninghamii 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.
