红花羊蹄甲 Bauhinia × blakeana
- Scientific Name: Bauhinia × blakeana Dunn
- Ref: J. Bot. 46:325. 1908
- Synonym: Bauhinia purpurea × variegata ‘Blakeana’
- English Common Name: Hong Kong orchid tree
- Chinese Common Name: 红花羊蹄甲 hónghuā yángtíjiǎ, 洋紫荊(仅香港) [粤]joeng4 zi2 ging1
- Family: Fabaceae
- Genus: Bauhinia
- Distribution: Frequent in Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Taiwan, and Yunnan [widely cultivated in the tropics as an ornamental tree].
- Photo: 06/18/2009, Xiamen, Fujian
- Note: Outside of Hong Kong, the Chinese common name “洋紫荊” is generally referred to one of its parent plant Bauhinia variegata.
Trees. Branches numerous; branchlets slender, pubescent. Petiole 3.5-4 cm, brownish pubescent; leaf blade orbicular or suborbicular, 8.5-13 × 9-14 cm, leathery, abaxially puberulent, adaxially glabrous, primary veins 11-13, base cordate or truncate, apex bilobed to 1/4-1/3, lobes rounded or narrowly rounded. Inflorescence racemose, terminal or axillary, or several racemes together forming a panicle, pubescent; bracts and bracteoles triangular, ca. 3 mm. Floral buds fusiform. Hypanthium tubular. Calyx spathe ca. 2.5 cm, with greenish or light reddish ridges. Petals purplish, lanceolate, 5-8 × 2.5-3 cm, shortly clawed. Fertile stamens 5, with 3 longer. Staminodes 2-5, threadlike. Ovary prominently stalked, pubescent. Legume not produced. Fl. Nov-Mar. (Flora of China)
06/18/2009, Xiamen, Fujian