Bauhinia purpurea

Common Name: purple orchid tree

Family: Fabaceae

Common Synonyms: none

USDA Hardiness Zone: 9a-11

Growth Habit: Tree

Origin: Tropical Asia

FISC Category: -

FDACS Listed Noxious Weed: No

Introduction Date: Earliest Florida specimen vouchered in 1982

IFAS Assessment:

• North: INVASIVE
• Central: INVASIVE
• South: INVASIVE

Description

Evergreen tree to 10 m tall. Leaves thick and deeply-divided into two lobes. Showy flowers of variable color (pink, purple, red, cream), 8-10 cm wide. Fruits are a green legume turning dark brown at maturity.

Habitat

Disturbed areas

Comments

Planted as an ornamental for its attractive flowers. Planted as an ornamental for its attractive flowers.

Control Methods

• Manual: NA
• Chemical: Basal bark (10% trichlopyr ester), cut stump (50% trichlopyr amine). [IFAS]
• Biological: NA

Control Notes

NA

References

Dave's Garden. 2014. PlantFiles: Orchid Tree, Bauhinia purpurea. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2325/. Accessed on June 20, 2014.

Invasive Species South Africa. 2014. Butterfly Orchid Tree, Bauhinia purpurea. http://www.invasives.org.za/invasive-species/item/196-butterfly-orchid-tree%7Cbauhinia-purpurea.html. Accessed on June 26, 2014.

Wunderlin, R. P., and B. F. Hansen. 2008. Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/).[S. M. Landry and K. N. Campbell (application development), Florida Center for Community Design and Research.] Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.