Bauhinia variegata L., Fabaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results: 

High risk, score: 9 (Go to the risk assessment (Pacific))
Reject, score: 7 (Go to the risk assessment (U.S. (Florida)))

Other Latin names:  Bauhinia alba hort.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: yang zi jing

English: bauhinia, butterfly tree, mountain ebony, orchid tree, purple orchid tree, white bauhinia

French: arbre à orchidées, arbre de Saint-Thomas, bois de boeuf, sabot boeuf

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Trees, deciduous, to 15 m tall. Bark dark brownish, nearly smooth; branches gray puberulent when young, later glabrous. Petiole 2.5-3.5 cm; leaf blade suborbicular or broadly ovate, 5-9 x 7-11 cm, subleathery, abaxially almost glabrous, adaxially glabrous, primary veins 9-13, secondary and higher order veins protruding, base shallowly to deeply cordate, apex bifid to 1/3, lobes rounded at apex. Inflorescence a raceme, few flowered, sometimes corymblike, axillary or terminal. Flower buds fusiform, smooth, subsessile. Calyx open as a spathe into 2 lobes. Petals white, or with pink or purplish spots, obovate or oblanceolate, 4-5 cm, clawed. Fertile stamens 5; filaments ca. as long as petals, slender. Staminodes 1-5 and small, or ?absent. Ovary stalked, puberulent; style curved; stigma small. Legume linear, flat, 15-25 x 1.5-2 cm; valves woody. Seeds 10-15, compressed, suborbicular, ca. 10 mm in diameter"  (Flora of China online).

Key to some Bauhinia species:

Fertile stamen 1; staminodes 5, small; petals long-clawed, 4-5.5 x 2-3 cm, white to pink, with red blotches or dots, the uppermost one splotched with deeper red, yellow or yellow-margined; leaf blades ovate-oblong, 7-20 cm long and broad, cordate to rounded at base, pubescent beneath when young, lobed about 1/5-1/2 their length, the lobes obtuse to subacuminate. B. monandra.

Fertile stamens 3-10.

Petals crimson to deep red, yellow-dotted without, 2.5-4 cm long, the claw nearly as long as the lamina; fertile stamens 3; leaf blades crescent-shaped, 2-5 cm long and broad, cordate to rounded at base, shallowly lobed to about 1/3 their length, the lobes rounded. B. galpinii.

Petals white or yellow to purple, not clawed or with a claw much shorter than the lamina.

From: Smith, A. C. 1985. Flora Vitiensis nova: A new flora of Fiji. Lawai, Kauai, Hawai‘i. National Tropical Botanical Garden. Vol. 3, p 119.

Habitat/ecology:  In Fiji, "perhaps sparingly naturalized in forest at higher elevations as well as cultivated near sea level"  (Smith, 1985; p. 121). In New Caledonia, "cultivé et parfois naturalisé" (MacKee, 1994; p. 72).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  India through eastern Asia; widely cultivated and naturalized (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island		ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2013)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island		Sykes, Bill (year unknown)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1985) (pp. 121-122) var. candida. Vouchers cited: DA 14759, Greenwood 790
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1966) (voucher ID: BISH 32811) Taxon name on voucher: Bauhinia variegata L.
French Polynesia Gambier Islands	Mangareva (Gambier) Island	introduced	St. John, Harold (1988) (p. 15) Voucher cited: Agassiz 104 (GH)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Moorea Island	introduced cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 140) Voucher cited: Florence 4728
French Polynesia Society Islands	Moorea Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1967) (voucher ID: BISH 153031) Taxon name on voucher: Bauhinia variegata L.
French Polynesia Society Islands	Moorea Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1983) (voucher ID: BISH 492580) Taxon name on voucher: Bauhinia variegata L.
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 140) Voucher cited: Florence 4478
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013) Voucher cited: J. Florence 4478 (PAP) Cultivée
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1983) (voucher ID: BISH 555134) Taxon name on voucher: Bauhinia variegata L.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced cultivated	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2013) (p. Voucher specimen) Voucher cited: Rock s.n. (BISH 455968)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawaiian Islands	introduced cultivated	Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. (2000) (p. 21)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced cultivated	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2013) (p. Voucher specimens) Voucher cited: Flynn 1521 (BISH 505840)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced cultivated	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2013) (p. Voucher specimens) Voucher cited: Rock 12956 (BISH 54750)
Nauru Nauru Island	Nauru Island	introduced cultivated	Thaman, R. R./Fosberg, F. R./Manner, H. I./Hassall, D. C. (1994) (p. 137) Voucher cited: Hassall 194 (SUVA)
New Caledonia Îles Loyauté (Loyalte Islands)	Île Lifou	introduced invasive cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 72) Vouchers cited: Däniker 2383, MacKee 5244 Spontané
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 72) Vouchers cited: Balansa s.n., Admin. Pénit. 69, Denizot s.n.; cv. "Candida"; voucher cited: MacKee 39295 Spontané
Palau Palau (Belau ) (main island group)	Babeldaob Island	introduced cultivated	Space, James C./Waterhouse, Barbara/Miles, Joel E./Tiobech, Joseph/Rengulbai, Kashgar (2003) (p. 84)
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 65)
Tonga Tonga Islands	Tonga Islands	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2013)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	El Salvador (Republic of)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2013)
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Panama (Republic of)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2013)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013) "Tropical forests, also cultivated; 1000-1500 m".
China China	Hong Kong	introduced cultivated	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 134) Also var. candida Buch.-Ham.
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2013)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2013)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 18) Cultivated only
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Colombia	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2013)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2013)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced cultivated	Lavergne, Christophe (2006) "Cultivé"
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2013)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2013)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	introduced	Invasive Species Specialist Group (2017)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2013) Louisiana, Texas
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2013)
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2013)

Comments:  A problem species in Florida. Reported weedy in gardens in Hawai‘i (Staples et al., 2000; p. 21).

Control:  If you know of control methods for Bauhinia variegata, please let us know.