Bauhinia brachycarpa seed

LATIN NAME: Bauhinia brachycarpa

COMMON NAME: Short-Pod Bauhinia

The short-pod bauhinia is a handsome, upright, open, deciduous shrub or small tree of the warm hills, and its fine, two-lobed, kidney-shaped or butterfly-shaped leaves and its small, white or pale-pink, fragrant, five-petalled flowers, followed by the small, flat, brown pods, have made it a treasured and fine plant of the warm garden. It grows as an upright, open, deciduous shrub or small tree, reaching up to five metres or so, with the upright, branching stems bearing the alternate, two-lobed, kidney-shaped, butterfly-like leaves and, through the warm months, the small, white or pale-pink, fragrant, five-petalled flowers in the small clusters, followed by the small, flat, brown, few-seeded pods. It is a species of the flowering plant in the pea family, and it is native to the warm hills of the south-western China, while it is grown as a treasured ornamental plant, and it is known as the short-pod bauhinia.

In the pea family it is the butterfly-leaved shrub of the warm hills, carrying the famous two-lobed leaf that the bauhinias are known for around the world.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The bauhinia leaf, split into its two lobes like a butterfly at rest, is a small classic of the plant science, and the short-pod species has been studied for the same remarkable shape across the pea family. The botanists have mapped its place in the warm hills of the south-western China, and the natural-product chemists have looked at the parts of the plant for the constituents behind the traditional use of the region. The horticulturists have grown the white, fragrant, butterfly-leaved form for the warm garden, and the growers of the warm-region shrubs keep it in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the warm garden, the short-pod bauhinia is the butterfly-leaved shrub of the sunny corner. Its small, white or pale-pink, fragrant flowers feed the bees, its flat, brown pods feed the birds, and the open, leafy growth gives the border a fine, airy presence. It is treasured for the two-lobed leaves and the sweet scent, and it grows well in the warm, sunny, well-drained ground. Butterfly-leaved, fragrant and sun-loving.

Nick the hard coat of each seed with a small file, drop them into warm water and leave them to soak overnight, then sow them at a shallow depth in pots of sandy, free-draining soil, keep the pots warm and bright and water them regularly, and the first leaves will appear.