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Bauhinia variegata

Variegated Orchid-tree

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Leaf and flower (5 stamens)	80KB
Image:	'Candida'? (8 stamens)	66KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Variegated Orchid-tree, Butterfly Tree, Mountain Ebony [for typical form], White Orchid-tree [for white form]; German Bauhinien, Orchideenbäume

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE India - China

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; Land, lowlands

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental flowers

KEY FEATURES: A tree to 10m with spreading branches and large orchidlike pale lavender or white flowers. LEAVES bilobed, 15x15cm, leathery, dull green; stalk 4cm. FLOWERS terminal clusters of 2-4, petals 5cm, overlapping, pale lavender, central petal variegated red and yellow, 10cmØ; stamens, white, 5-8 fertile. FRUIT pod, 25x2cm. Cv. 'Candida': FLOWER petals white with greenish veins.

Enlarged Image of 'Bauhinia variegata</I>'

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 variegata Linnaeus
SYNONYMS: Bauhinia variegata 'Variegata' [purple to rose with dark veins]; Bauhinia variegata 'Candida' [white with greenish veins]; Bauhinia alba; Bauhinia candida

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

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: fieldspecimen+photo, Inanui Nia Garden, Avarua, 'Candida', 1980s&2003, ID GM

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.3/122 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zD02, zM03b, zupM05a, zupD03b

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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