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The Bauhinia Purpurea, also known as Red Bauhinia, Hong Kong Orchid Tree, and Purple Orchid Tree, is a plant of a different genus than the Purple Bauhinia of the legume family, despite the similar names.
The Red Bauhinia is an evergreen tree of the legume family, growing 6-10 meters in height. Its leaves are round, broad-ovate, or kidney-shaped, but all split at the top, resembling a sheep’s hoof.
Its large palm-sized flowers are slightly fragrant, with five evenly arranged petals in red or pink, blooming from November to the following April.
The Red Bauhinia (scientific name: Bauhinia blakeana Dunn) is an evergreen tree, measuring 6-10 meters tall. The leaves are leathery, round or broad-heart-shaped, 10-13 cm long, slightly wider than long, split at the top, resembling a sheep’s hoof.
The flowers are arranged in a raceme or occasionally branched into a conical shape; they are red or purple-red; palm-sized, 10-12 cm; with five petals, four of which are arranged on two sides, two by two, while the other petal stands at the top, resembling an orchid; the flowers are fragrant, similar to the scent of an orchid, hence the nickname “Orchid Tree.
It blooms from November to the following April. The large palm-sized flowers, slightly fragrant, with five evenly arranged petals in red or pink, are very beautiful.
This species is a beautiful ornamental tree, with large purple-red flowers blooming profusely, evergreen throughout the year, and tolerates dust well, making it particularly suitable as a street tree.
The bark contains tannin, which can be used as tanning material and dye, and the roots, bark, and flowers can be used for medicinal purposes. It is one of the main garden trees in Guangzhou. It is widely planted around the world.
The Red Bauhinia was first discovered in Hong Kong, China in 1880. After joint research by the then Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Henry Arthur Blake, and botanists, it was confirmed as a new species of the Bauhinia genus, and named after Sir Blake.
The Hong Kong people call it “Purple Orchid Flower”, because it belongs to the Bauhinia genus, it is called “Red Bauhinia” or “Purple Bauhinia”, while in Taiwan, because of its large and bright flowers, it is called “Bright Purple Orchid”.
As for its nickname, “Hong Kong Orchid”, it is a direct translation of the English name “Hong Kong Orchid Tree”.
In 1965, the Red Bauhinia was officially designated as the city flower of Hong Kong, and after 1997, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China continued to adopt the elements of the purple orchid flower as the design pattern for the regional emblem, flag, and coins.
This endemic species was introduced to Taiwan in 1967 and became the city flower and tree of Chiayi City in 1984.
ative to subtropical regions, it prefers warm, humid, rainy climates, abundant sunlight, and deep, fertile, well-drained, slightly acidic sandy soil.
It is highly adaptable, with some cold tolerance, and can overwinter in most areas south of the Tropic of Cancer in China. It grows rapidly, with three-year-old saplings reaching about 3 meters in height.
It has strong budding and branching abilities, is highly resistant to pruning, and has a long flowering period, starting to bloom at the end of October each year and ending in May of the following year, for more than half a year. Evergreen and lush all year round, it is an excellent landscaping tree species in southern China.
Native to southern Asia, it is widely planted around the world.
The Red Bauhinia is a shrub with numerous branches and slender twigs covered in hair. Its leaves are leathery, nearly round or broad heart-shaped, measuring 8.5-13 cm in length and 9-14 cm in width.
The leaf base is heart-shaped, sometimes almost flat, with the tip split into two about a quarter to a third of the total leaf length.
The split sections are blunt or narrowly rounded; the top is hairless while the underside is sparsely covered in short soft hair. There are 11-13 basal veins and the petiole measures 3.5-4 cm, covered in brown short soft hair.
The cyme inflorescence is terminal or axillary, sometimes compound into a conical inflorescence covered in short soft hair. The bracts and small bracts are triangular, about 3 mm in length.
The flowers are large and beautiful with spindle-shaped buds. The calyx is flame-shaped, about 2.5 cm long, with pale red and green lines. The petals are purplish red, short-stalked, inverted lanceolate, 5-8 cm in length with the stalk and 2.5-3 cm wide.
One of the petals near the axis is dark purplish red from the middle to the base. There are five fertile stamens, three of which are longer; and 2-5 staminodes that are filamentous and extremely thin.
The ovary is long-stalked and covered in short soft hair. It usually does not fruit and blooms year-round, with the peak blooming period in March and April.
For greenhouse potted plants, maintain sufficient water and humidity in spring and summer. Avoid direct sunlight during high temperatures in the summer. In autumn and winter, it should be slightly dry.
Apply liquid fertilizer 1-2 times during the growth period. This flower is potted in subtropical areas and the Yangtze River basin and should be brought into the greenhouse for winter, with the minimum temperature maintained above 5 degrees Celsius.
When using Red Bauhinia for landscaping, in order to achieve a good shading effect, saplings (with a diameter of more than 10 cm) are generally used for transplanting. Transplanting should be done in early spring, February to March.
Small saplings need to bring a lot of native soil, while larger saplings should bring a soil ball. Because of its strong adaptability, the survival rate of large saplings after transplantation is extremely high.
Before transplanting large saplings, they must be pruned, generally retaining the main trunk of 3-5 meters and maintaining a certain tree shape. Proper branch thinning and shortening, leaving branches at 0.2-1.0 meters is sufficient.
Large saplings need to be transplanted with a “mud ball”, and planting should not be too deep, otherwise, it will cause root rot, affecting survival.
The Red Bauhinia is not wind-resistant, and its branches and trunks are prone to breaking. Therefore, precautions should be taken before a typhoon arrives.
Design: Consider its site conditions before planting the Red Bauhinia. Create conditions suitable for the healthy growth of the Red Bauhinia, especially the conditions for the growth of its root system; choose suitable wind-resistant tree species, adopt wind-resistant planting forms, or form a wind-resistant green space structure.
At the design level, while satisfying the plant landscape and other functional aspects, adhere to the “5 no’s”: ① If the Red Bauhinia can appear as a strip of greenery, it should not appear as a single tree pit; ② If it can be planted in multiple rows, it should not appear in a single row; ③ Around the solitary Red Bauhinia, use grassland or permeable paving instead of impermeable paving; ④ If it can form a community layer, try not to appear as a single layer.
Soil: Ensure the soil quality and space for the Red Bauhinia to live, to ensure the healthy growth of the Red Bauhinia root system. The soil is the fundamental condition for the strength of the Red Bauhinia’s wind resistance.
Only in loose, breathable soil can the Red Bauhinia grow well and develop a strong and deep root system. A strong and powerful root system support allows the Red Bauhinia to reduce windfall and windbreak damage.
For densely planted Red Bauhinia, it is necessary to properly thin out in the later stage, increase the growth space of the Red Bauhinia, and not form a thin, weak, wind-resistant shape, letting the branches grow thick, and enhancing its wind resistance.
Trimming: Pay attention to the pruning of the tree crown for air permeability, cultivate a wind-resistant tree trunk skeleton, branch structure, and tree crown shape, fundamentally improving the wind resistance of the Red Bauhinia.
Strengthen pruning during the flood season, comb out excessive branches in the crown of the Red Bauhinia according to its own bearing capacity, adjust the reasonable root crown ratio, avoid attracting wind due to large trees, and achieve the purpose of resisting typhoons.
Support: Support strengthens the wind resistance ability of newly planted and old and weak Red Bauhinia. Especially for new trees, as the roots have not yet taken root, they are very easy to shake.
Erecting a support frame, on one hand, can stabilize the Red Bauhinia, keep the root system in close and stable contact with the soil, conducive to the growth of new roots, and on the other hand, it can reduce the destructive effect of the typhoon on the trunk, reducing windbreak or uprooting.
The primary method of reproduction for the Red Bauhinia is cutting propagation, followed by grafting. Despite its vibrant red flowers, the tree cannot pollinate due to the degeneration of the stigma in its pistil, resulting in the aphorism “Flowers but no fruit”. Thus, it cannot reproduce through seeds.
Propagation occurs between March and April. Select a healthy, year-old branch and cut it to a length of 10-12 centimeters, ensuring it has 3-4 nodes. Remove the leaves at the base of the cutting, leaving only the top two before inserting it into a sand bed.
Afterward, spray it with water and cover it with a plastic film. At temperatures between 18°C to 25°C, the cutting will develop callus tissue in about 10 days and root and sprout in around 50 days. After approximately a year, the sapling can reach around 1 meter and be transplanted to a nursery the following spring.
Propagation through grafting utilizes Broad Leaf Bauhinia, White Bauhinia, or Koinji Bauhinia as rootstocks. High-budding grafting is performed before new buds sprout on the sapling in either April-May during the spring or August-September in autumn.
The two main diseases are Angular Leaf Spot and Sooty Mold. Angular Leaf Spot manifests as polygonal, yellow-brown spots that grow and merge into larger patches. If the disease is severe, the leaves become covered in spots, leading to leaf death and shedding.
Sooty Mold leaves a coal-like substance on the leaves, and the trunk and branches turn black. In serious cases, the tree doesn’t flower, and its leaves fall off until it dies.
Control Methods: In autumn, remove and burn fallen leaves to reduce the source of infection for the following year. Apply a 700-800 times dilution of 50% Thiram wettable powder or an 800-1000 times dilution of 70% Mancozeb Zinc wettable powder every 10 days, for a total of 3-4 treatments.
City Flower
The Red Bauhinia, also known as the Hong Kong Orchid Tree, is the roadside tree of many cities in Southern China. Praised for its elegant form and long blooming period, it is deeply loved by the local people.
It is well-known in Hong Kong among people of all ages. Since 1965, it was selected as the city flower of Hong Kong. On April 4, 1990, it was further established by the Hong Kong Basic Law as the symbol of the regional flag and emblem.
Red Bauhinia Flower Language
It symbolizes warmth, harmony, brotherly love, and family prosperity.
Peggie was once a high school mathematics teacher, but she set aside her chalkboard and textbooks to follow her lifelong passion for flowers. After years of dedication and learning, she not only established a thriving flower shop but also founded this blog, “Flowers Library”. If you have any questions or wish to learn more about flowers, feel free to contact Peggie.
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