ORCHID TREES 
MOUNTAIN EBONY 
* MOUNTAIN EBONY (Bauhinia va- 
riegata). This Indian small tree bears in 
spring a profusion of brilliant purple-red- 
white orchid-like flowers. Used for street 
planting in Vero Beach and _ elsewhere, 
the “poor man’s orchid” makes a magnifi- 
cent show through the tourist season. An 
oil spray will keep the foliage attractive. 
DWARF ORCHID (B. racemosa). This 
Indian tree has small, white, unattractive 
flowers, but it has a neat habit of growth 
and Lancaster recommends it for small 
gardens. 
ROSE ORCHIDTREE 
* ROSE ORCHIDTREE (B. triandra). 
This November blooming evergreen tree 
to 25 feet with lovely fragrant rose-red 
flowers, is my favorite. It thrives in Flor- 
ida particularly on low ground and makes 
a good tree for street planting. The very 
showy bloom continues for weeks. 
a OO WE Res ORGHID ERE tarts. 
hookeri). This 80-foot tree from warm 
northern Australia has very small twin 
leaves and white flowers edged with crim- 
son, in clusters at the branch tips. This 
is usually shrubby in Florida and might 
18 
be a good patio plant. Lady Rockley said 
the flowers reminded her of azaleas. 
NATAL ORCHIDTREE (B._natalen- 
sis). Here is a neat bushy Bauhinia with 
small leaves and 1%-inch white flowers in 
which the midvein of the upper petals is 
reddish. Should be an ideal patio plant 
with us and is probably evergreen. 
* THORNY ORCHIDTREE (B. for- 
ficata). This thorny small tree to 15 feet 
is prized in California gardens for its re- 
sistance to cold and for its lovely 3-inch 
white flowers. It is native of Brazil and 
grows fast. 
WHITE ORCHIDTREE (Bauhinia 
purpurea var. alba). There are a score or 
more “white Bauhinias.” The commoner 
kind in Florida is Bauhinia variegata var. 
candida which blooms in the Spring. The 
tree offered here blooms in November or 
December and bears copious pure white 
flowers in clusters at the ends of the 
branchlets. It is a small tree, blooming 
when 5-6 feet high, the flowers shaped 
like B. purpurea. It does not come true 
from seed. 
SNOWY ORCHIDTREE (Bauhinia 
acuminata). Most satisfactory of the Bau- 
hinia family, says Bailey, and the compact 
white flowers with wide snowy petals, the 
whole flower not much larger than a rose, 
are borne in profusion on plants when they 
are only two years old. Deciduous, hard 
to propagate and rare, native of India, 
height to 6 feet, it blooms continuously 
from May to September. 
YELLOW ORCHIDTREE (Bauhinia 
picta). This is a bushy small tree from 
Colombia, with small divided leaves and 
solitary, light yellow or white, tubular 
flowers which open wider than B. tomen- 
tosa which it resembles. It would prob- 
ably be a good hedge plant with branch- 
ings to the ground. 
* PINK ORCHIDTREE (B. monan- 
dra). This deciduous small tree from 
Burma bears beautiful pink orchid-like 
flowers all along the marches, blooming 
at least twice a year, usually November 
and May. The flowers are large, the 
petals at first showing a great deal of red 
and yellow on a white background, but 
fading bright pink as they grow older. 
