Bauhinia acuminata

Bauhinia acuminata, originally uploaded by kadavoor.

Bauhinia acuminata

Common: Dwarf White Orchid Tree, White Bauhinia, Kaa-long, Snowy Orchid.

Malayalam: Mandaaram

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.

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 centimeters long and broad, with the apical cleft up to 5 cm deep; the petiole is 1.5 to 4 centimeters long. The flowers are fragrant, 8 to 12 centimeters in diameter, with five white petals, ten yellow-tipped stamens and a green stigma. The fruit is a pod 7.5 to 15 centimeters long and 1.5 to 1.8 centimeters broad. The species occurs in deciduous forests and scrub.

It is widely cultivated throughout the tropics as an ornamental plant. It may be found as an escape from cultivation in some areas, and has become naturalised.

Medical Uses: Root-decoction: boiled with oil and applied to burns; Stem-bark: antidote to poison; Decoction of bark of leaf: in biliousness, bladder stone, leprosy and asthma.

Taken at Kadavoor, Kerala, India

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhinia_acuminata

http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Dwarf%20White%20Orchid%20Tree.html

www.hear.org/pier/species/bauhinia_acuminata.htm