Bauhinia acuminata

Bauhinia acuminata
Flower in Bardhaman, West Bengal, India.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Bauhinia
Species: B. acuminata
Binomial name
Bauhinia acuminata

Bauhinia acuminata is a species of flowering shrub native to tropical southeastern Asia. Common names include: dwarf white bauhinia, white orchid-tree and snowy orchid-tree and শ্বেত কাঞ্চন (Bengali). The exact native range is obscure due to extensive cultivation, but probably from Malaysia, Indonesia (Java, Borneo, Kalimantan, Lesser Sunda Islands), and the Philippines.[1]

It grows two to three meters tall. Like the other Bauhinia species, the leaves are bilobed, shaped like an ox hoof; they are 6 to 15 centimeters long and broad, with the apical cleft up to 5 cm deep; the petiole is 1.5 to 4 centimeters long. The flowers are fragrant, 8 to 12 centimeters in diameter, with five white petals, ten yellow-tipped stamens and a green stigma. The fruit is a pod 7.5 to 15 centimeters long and 1.5 to 1.8 centimeters broad. The species occurs in deciduous forests and scrub.[2][3][4]

It is widely cultivated throughout the tropics as an ornamental plant. It may be found as an escape from cultivation in some areas, and has become naturalised on the Cape York Peninsula, Australia.[2]

Local names

Hindi: Safed Kanchnar Bengali: শ্বেত কাঞ্চন ( Sheto Kanchon ) Kannada : Mandaara, Bili Mandara Malayam : Mandaaram Tamil : Vellai Mandaarai ଓଡ଼ିଆ: କଂଚନ Assamese : Mati katota[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Bauhinia acuminata". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk: Bauhinia acuminata
  3. ↑ Flowers of India: White Orchid Tree
  4. ↑ Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.
  5. ↑ "Bauhinia acuminata L." Indianbiodiversity.org. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
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