Bauhinia purpurea L. (Fabaceae)
- Scientific name
- Bauhinia purpurea L.
- Family name
- Fabaceae (Syn. Leguminosae)
- Common name
- Bauhinia (English); murasaki mokuwan-ju (Japanese)
- Local name
- Phak-siew
A medium-sized, erect tree, with moderately stout, glabrescent branchlets. Leaves alternate, simple, 2-lobed, subcoriaceous, glabrous, shallowly cordate, with lobes obtuse or subacute, with gap reaching halfway down the leaf. Flowers in terminal and axillary short-peduncled, few-flowered corymbs; bracts minute, deltoid; lower pedicels 6–12 mm. Calyx tubular, tube 6–12 mm; limb 7–25 mm, coriaceous, split into two valves, with 2 and 3 teeth, respectively. Petals oblanceolate, with long, reddish claw, twice the calyx length. Fertile stamens 3–4. Ovary hairy, grey, with long stalk and moderately large, oblique stigma. Fruit a firm, flat pod, slightly decurved, glabrous, 15–30 cm × 18–25 mm, dehiscing late, 12–15 seeded.
Common tree along roadsides, grown ornamentally and for shade. Propagated by seed sowing or air layering.
Young shoots and leaves are used in curry dishes, adding a somewhat sour taste.
Young shoots and leaves are used in curry dishes, adding a somewhat sour taste.