SimplePlant

Fabaceae

Butterfly tree

Bauhinia purpurea L.

Family
Fabaceae
Genus
Bauhinia

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Butterfly tree (Bauhinia purpurea)
FlowerPhoto: Aadi Kulkarni, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist

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Common names

By language (21)
Arabic
بوهينيا أرجوانية
Assamese
ৰঙা কাঞ্চন
Bangla
দেবকাঞ্চন, বেগুনি কাঞ্চন, রাঙা কাঞ্চন
Burmese
စွယ်တော်
Cantonese
紅花羊蹄甲
Chinese
红花羊蹄甲, 紅花羊蹄甲, 玲甲花, 紫羊蹄甲, 大夜关门根, 羊蹄甲, 洋紫荆, 紫花羊蹄甲
English
Butterfly tree, Butterfly-tree, Hawaiian orchid tree, Hong kong orchid tree, Purple Camel's foot, Camel's foot, Purple bauhinia
Gujarati
દેવકંચન, દેવકાંચનાર
Hebrew
בוהניה ארגמנית
Hindi
कोविदार, कचनार
Indonesian
Tayuman, Bunga kupu-kupu
Japanese
ムラサキソシンカ
Malayalam
ചുവന്നമന്ദാരം
Nepali
टाँकी
sat
ᱥᱤᱧ ᱫᱟᱨᱮ
shn
တူၼ်ႈသဵဝ်ႈ, တူၼ်ႈမွၵ်ႇသဵဝ်ႈ
Sundanese
Tayuman
Tamil
மந்தாரை
Telugu
దేవకాంచనం, కాంచనం, దేవకాంచనము, బాహీనియా పర్పురియా
Thai
ชงโค, ต้นชงโค
Vietnamese
Cây móng bò, Móng bò đỏ

Synonyms

  • Bauhinia castrata Blanco
  • Bauhinia coromandeliana DC.
  • Bauhinia kurzii Prain
  • Bauhinia purpurea var. corneri de Wit
  • Bauhinia purpurea var. violacea de Wit
  • Bauhinia rosea Kurz
  • Bauhinia triandra Roxb.
  • Bauhinia violacea Corner
  • Caspareopsis purpurea (L.) Pittier
  • Casparia castrata (Blanco) Hassk.
  • Perlebia purpurea (L.) A.Schmitz
  • Perlebia purpurea var. corneri (de Wit) A.Schmitz
  • Perlebia purpurea var. violacea (de Wit) A.Schmitz
  • Phanera kurzii (Prain) Thoth.
  • Phanera purpurea (L.) Benth.
  • Phanera rosea Rich. ex Teijsm. & Binn.
  • Telestria purpurea (L.) Raf.

Flowers

In flower
April, October to January (from 237 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)

Characteristics

Growth habit
Shrub, Tree
Lifespan
Perennial
In the US and Canada
Lower 48 states: introduced, Puerto Rico: introduced

Photos

More in Bauhinia

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.