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Bauhinia purpurea

Purple Orchid-tree

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Leaves and flowers	68KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Purple Orchid-tree, Purple Butterfly Tree; German Bauhinien, Orchideenbäume

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE India - Vietnam

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; S.Group (RR only - rare); Land, lowlands

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental flowers

KEY FEATURES: A tree to 6m with dramatic purple flowers. LEAVES large, 2-lobed, split to 30% from apex. FL petals redish-purple, non-overlapping, 7x2cm, oblanceolate, 3-4 fertile stamens. FT pod, thin, flat, to 30cm.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: -
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Northern Group: -
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Bauhinia purpurea Linnaeus
SYNONYMS: Bauhinia triandra; Bauhinia purpurea [of hort. is Bauhinia variegata]

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ROSIDAE; Fabales (Legumes); CAESALPINIACEAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: fiedlspeciemn+photo, 1990s, Arotangi main road north of Palace, ID GMcC

References:
p.419 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.141 Hortus 3rd
p.130 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.541 Tropica
p.3/121 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM03a, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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