Hong Kong Orchid Tree

Bauhinia  Xblakeana Dunn

bah-HIN-ee-uh     blay-kee-AY-nuh

Caesalpiniaceae (Legumes)

Key to Bauhinia L. 

Explanation of name: Bauhinia named for two Swiss botanists, the brothers Johann and Casper Bauhin. The two lobes of the leaf exemplify the two brothers. (STE)   S.T Dunn, the superintendent of the Botanical and Forestry Department, named the tree after Sir Henry Blake, who was the Governor of Hong Kong 1897- 1903. (PBCC).

Natural range: Canton, China (BA2)

Recognition: Tree.  Leaves suborbicular, 2-lobed, 3"-8" long, divided about 1/4 to1/3 of their length. Flowers pink-purple to crimson-red, in long racemes, showy, 6" across. Fruit none, propagated vegetatively (BA2, ISE, UFST88)

Landscape uses: Specimen tree, flowering tree (BR1, UFST88)

Notes: Origin of the tree is probably a hybrid between B. purpurea and B. variegata. (ISE) .