Tree of the Week: Purple orchid tree

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Good morning, Big Brown, and others waking up on the East Coast.

Our little corner of Los Angeles is a riot of color these days, though I don’t think I’ve seen one of these -- a purple orchid tree, captured here by photograher NatashaP, and Pieter Severynen’s Tree of the Week.

The purple orchid tree -- Bauhinia variegata (a.k.a. purpurea)

‘The semi-evergreen to deciduous purple orchid tree from India and China is deservedly popular here along our streets and in our gardens. When in bloom anytime from late winter through spring, it is generously covered with faintly scented, light pink to purple, orchid like, 2-3’ wide flowers, beloved by hummingbirds. The genus contains dozens of equally spectacular orchid trees whose flower colors range from pink to purple, orange, red, yellow, and white. The Hong Kong orchid tree, Bauhinia x blakeana, whose flower appears on the Hong Kong flag, is also popular here. At first looks similar to the purple orchid tree, but it is smaller in stature, while its flowers are twice as large.

‘Moderate to fast growing, the purple orchid tree has a tendency to be shrubby. It needs some helpful guidance pruning in youth in order to become a 30 feet tall by 30 feet wide roundhead (or whatever shape the tree trimmers select). The light tan to dark brown bark is smooth when young, becomes rougher with age. The broad, double-lobed, heart-shaped, 2-3 inch wide leaves have a deep notch at the top. The tree often blooms on briefly bare branches. Thereafter a large crop of messy, beanlike, brown seedpods may hang on the tree for quite a while, unless removed. The tree likes moderate watering, but is drought resistant.

‘The curious leaf shape of all Bauhinia plants: broad, two-lobed, as if the two halves had grown together, is responsible for the genus name. Carl Linnaeus, (1707-1778), instituted our binomial plant naming system of one genus name (such as Bauhinia) and one species name (such as variegata) per plant. Members of a genus are sufficiently alike that they can interbreed, even if each species is otherwise obviously different from every other species. Linnaeus built on the earlier work of the brothers Gaspard and Jean Bauhin, two French-Swiss science marvels of the 1560-1624 period, both of whom were physicians, botanists and professors. Gaspard first published the concept of the genus-species description for each plant. Linnaeus so admired his botanical predecessors that the honored them by naming a genus after them, hence the name ‘Bauhinia.’ Linnaeus said that the shape of the leaf reminded him of two brothers who always stayed and worked together. We don’t know if Gaspard and Jean
ever saw any plant later known as Bauhinia.

Thanks, Pieter, as always.
Your thoughts? Comments?
Photo Credit: NatashaP on flickr. Thanks, Natasha.