Bauhinia

BAUHINIA (bau-hin’-i-ah) - Mountain-ebony. Tropical trees, shrubs or vines, belonging to the Pea Family. Rarely seen in warm greenhouses ; grown outdoors in the warmer parts of the country where they make a good showing with their colorful racemes of white, purple, or yellow flowers. The two most common and hardiest species are Bauhinia purpurea and Bauhinia variegata, natives of India but able to withstand a few degrees of frost. Bauhinia purpurea is a small, quick-growing tree, bearing an abundance of large purplish flowers over a long season. Bauhinia variegate is similar in habit but with varied colored flowers in rose, red, and yellow. In India the bark is used in tanning and dyeing, and the leaves and flower buds as a vegetable.

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