Bauhinia variegata

Non-Native in Florida

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Download a page (PDF 150 KB) from Identification and Biology of Nonnative Plants in Florida’s Natural Areas – Second Edition, by K.A. Langeland, H.M. Cherry, et al. University of Florida-IFAS Pub SP 257. 2008.

For control information, see Integrated Management of Nonnative Plants in Natural Areas of Florida (SP 242)
by K. A. Langeland, J. A. Ferrell, B. Sellers, G. E. MacDonald, and R. K. Stocker

Date of introduction to Florida: 1936 (ornamental)

(from Strangers in Paradise, Impact and Management of Nonindigenous Species in Florida, Chapter 2: Florida’s Invasion by Nonindigenous Plants: History, Screening, and Regulation, by D.R. Gordon and K.P. Thomas, pp. 21-37. Island Press, Washington, DC, 1997.)

Orchid tree is occasionally found growing in disturbed sites in the central and southern peninsula of Florida. It is native to tropical Asia but escaped from cultivation. Bauhinia variegata blooms in the spring (Wunderlin, 2003).

Appearance: Semi-deciduous tree to 15 m (50 ft) tall, with a spreading crown.

Leaves: Alternate, long petioled, to 3 cm (1.25 in) long, thin-leathery, simple but deeply cleft at apex, forming 2 large rounded lobes; lower surfaces downy, especially at top of petiole; blades with 11–13 veins extending from heart-shaped or rounded base.

Flowers: Showy, fragrant, in few-flowered clusters near stem tips; 5 petals, clawed, overlapping, pale magenta to indigo (occasionally white), with dark red and yellow also on upper petal; 5 stamens (rarely 6).

Fruit: A flat, oblong pod, to 30 cm (1ft) long, 10–15-seeded.

Ecological threat: Noted as occasional across south Florida; invading dis-turbed areas and displacing native vegetation in hammock margins and occasionally in globally imperiled pine rock-lands. FLEPPC Category I

Distribution: C, SW, SE

Text from Invasive and Non-Native Plants You Should Know, Recognition Cards, by A. Richard and V. Ramey, 2007. UF/IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants, Publ. No. SP 431.

Download the Recognition Card (PDF 931 KB).

 

View more information and pictures about orchid tree in the Langeland/Burks book, Identification & Biology of Non-Native Plants in Florida's Natural Areas.

The UF/IFAS Assessment lists plants according to their invasive status in Florida.

View the herbarium specimen image of the University of Florida Herbarium Digital Imaging Projects.