Dwarf White Bauhinia

Bauhinia acuminata is a species of flowering shrub native to tropical southeastern Asia. Common names include dwarf white bauhinia, white orchid-tree and snowy orchid-tree. The exact native range is obscure due to extensive cultivation, but probably from Malaysia, Indonesia (Java, Borneo, Kalimantan, Lesser Sunda Islands), and the Philippines.

It grows two to three meters tall. Like the other Bauhinia species, the leaves are bilobed, shaped like an ox hoof; they are 6 to 15 centimetres (2+1⁄4 to 6 in) long and broad, with the apical cleft up to 5 centimetres (2 in) deep; the petiole is 1.5 to 4 centimetres (1⁄2 to 1+1⁄2 in) long. The flowers are fragrant, 8 to 12 centimetres (3+1⁄4 to 4+3⁄4 in) in diameter, with five white petals, ten yellow-tipped stamens and a green stigma. The fruit is a pod 7.5 to 15 centimetres (3 to 6 in) long and 1.5 to 1.8 centimetres (1⁄2 to 3⁄4 in) broad. The species occurs in deciduous forests and scrub.

It is widely cultivated throughout the tropics as an ornamental plant.

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