Flowering and fruiting period: September – May

Distribution: Possibly native of China; wild in the sub Himalayan and India

Habitat: Cultivated as ornamental plant

Uses: Ornamental, fruits edible, young leaves edible, firewood, timber yielding and anti-helminthic.

Key Characters: Bauhinia variegata have dark brown bark. Leaf lamina is broader than long, with a medium cleft. Inflorescence is a pubescent raceme. Calyx tomentose, 5 toothed at the apex. Petals 5, with long rather broad claw, 4 petals pale purple and fifth darker with purple veins. Stamens 5, fertile, no staminodes. Ovary hairy; style long, stigma capitates. Fruit is a 10-15 seeded dehiscent pod. Lemmas lanceolate, mucronate, coriaceous, glabrous. Paleas 2-keeled, ciliate. Stamens 6. Style 1; stigmas 3. Caryopsis linearly cylindric.