Bauhinia acuminata L., Fabaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: bai hua yang ti jia

English: dwarf white bauhinia, snowy orchid tree, white orchid tree

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "Cultivated shrub to 3 m tall; young stems, petioles and inflorescence axes with sparse curled pubescence.  Stipules lance-linear, 5-12 mm long, acuminate, curled puberulent, caducous; largest colleter swollen, divergent, 1.5-2.1 mm long.  Leaves with petioles 1.5-4 cm long; blades ovate, broadly ovate or suborbicular, 5.4-11.3 (20) x 3.7-11.3 cm, divided about 1/3 their length, membranous, glabrous adaxially, densely puberulent abaxially, base cordate to rounded, apex of lobes acute.  Inflorescences axillary racemes, 2.5-5.8 cm long; peduncles negligible; bracts and bracteoles lance-linear, 3-9 mm long, puberulent, especially on margins, caducous.  Flowers with pedicel 6-12 mm long; hypanthium 5-9 mm long; calyx limb spathaceous, 28-37 mm long, with few scattered hairs abaxially, apex of 5 spidery lobes 1.7-4.1 mm long; petals not clawed, elliptic to oblanceolate, 39-49 (60) x 20-25 (30) mm, glabrous, white; fertile stamens 10, filaments strigose at base; ovary stipitate, strigose on sutures, stigma peltate, bilobed.  Legumes linear, 7.5-15 x 1.7-1.8 cm, glabrous, brown; seeds suborbicular, ca. 10 mm in diameter" (Howard, 1988; pp. 380, 382).

Habitat/ecology:  Full sun to partial shade, average water needs, soil pH 5.6-6.5 (mildly acidic to acidic) (Dave's Garden).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Southeast Asia, possibly Indonesia, Malaysia or the Philippines; exact native range obscure. Cultivated and naturalized in tropical Asia (GRIN). "A native of SE Asia and perhaps also wild in parts of Malesia, widely cultivated throughout the tropics" (Verdcourt, 1979; p. 114).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 95)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced cultivated	Herrera, Katherine/Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy/Balick, Michael J. (2010) (p. 88) Voucher cited: S.F. Glassman 2838 (BISH)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1949) (voucher ID: BISH 153088) Taxon name on voucher: Bauhinia acuminata L.
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Fatu Hiva Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2008)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Koror Island	introduced cultivated	Space, James C./Waterhouse, Barbara/Miles, Joel E./Tiobech, Joseph/Rengulbai, Kashgar (2003) (p. 79)
Papua New Guinea Bismarck Archipelago	Bismarck Archipelago	introduced	Peekel, P. G. [translated by E. E. Henty] (1984) (p. 216)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	possibly native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	probably introduced invasive	Merrill, Elmer D. (1923) (p. 258) In dry thickets at low and medium altitudes, probably introduced.
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands	introduced cultivated	Hancock, I. R./Henderson, C. P. (1988) (p. 50)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced	Waterhouse, Barbara (year unknown)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)
China China	Hong Kong	introduced cultivated	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 133) Ornamental.
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	possibly native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Japan Ryukyu Islands	Ryukyu Islands	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	possibly native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 18) Cultivated only
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)

Comments:  Naturalizing on the Cape York Peninsula, Australia (Barbara Waterhouse, pers. com.).

Additional information:
Additional online information about Bauhinia acuminata is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Bauhinia acuminata as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Bauhinia acuminata may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1949. Voucher specimen #BISH 153088 (Glassman, S.F. 2838).

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1979. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian dicotyledonae. Micronesica 15:1-295.

Hancock, I. R./Henderson, C. P. 1988. Flora of the Solomon Islands. Research Bulletin No. 7. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Honiara. 203 pp.

Herrera, Katherine/Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy/Balick, Michael J. 2010. Checklist of the vascular plants of Pohnpei with local names and uses. Allertonia, in press. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Hawai‘i. 146 pp.

Howard, Richard A. 1988. Flora of the Lesser Antilles: Leeward and Windward Islands. Vol. 4, Dicotyledoneae-Part 1. Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University. 673 pp.

ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre. 2011. International Legume Database & Information Service. Online searchable database.

Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. 2008. Flora of the Marquesas Islands. National Tropical Botanical Garden and the Smithsonian Institution. Online database.

Merrill, Elmer D. 1923. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, vol. 2 [reprint]. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 530 pp.

Peekel, P. G. [translated by E. E. Henty]. 1984. Flora of the Bismarck Archipelago for naturalists. Office of Forests, Division of Botany, Lae, Papua New Guinea. 638 pp. ISBN 9980-66-000-7.

Space, James C./Waterhouse, Barbara/Miles, Joel E./Tiobech, Joseph/Rengulbai, Kashgar. 2003. Report to the Republic of Palau on invasive plant species of environmental concern. USDA Forest Service, Honolulu. 174 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Verdcourt, B. 1979. A Manual of New Guinea Legumes. Office of Forests, Lae, PNG.

Waterhouse, Barbara. 0. Barbara Waterhouse, pers. com.

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).