 |
Bauhinia lunarioides |
 |
| Common name |
Anacacho orchid |
| Family |
fabaceae |
| Life cycle |
tree (Z8-11)    |
| Flowers |
white or pale pink (spring) |
| Size |
8-12' |
| Light |
sun-part shade |
| Cultural notes |
well-drained soil; drought tolerant |
From seed  |
Nick seed, germinate at room temperature
detailed seed-starting info below
|
Shrub or small tree producing fragrant orchid-shaped pale pink or white flowers over a long season. The curiously shaped leaves, consisting of pairs of leaflets, add to its charm, as does its silvery gray bark. The nectar attracts bees and butterflies. Ours bloomed tentatively in its second year in the garden, and more robustly the third, even though it hadn't grown much in stature. Native to western Texas and northeastern Mexico. The main bloom occurs in spring (March into April for us), but every once in while it surprises us with flowers later in the season – sometimes just a single one, sometimes a small flush of them. I like that: unpredictability is an asset in our Texas garden, where most everything just does its thing steadfastly through the season or according to strict schedule.
|
| | I was a little concerned over its survival in the freeze of January 2018, but it reassured me with new growth in mid-February. It likewise did fine in the even more severe freeze of 2021. |
| 
| | Charming, instantly recognizable leaves |
|
| | Poor tree – holding up not only itself, but also a heavy passion vine. I enjoyed the juxtaposition, but relieved the tree from the latter load a couple weeks later. |
| 
| | Curiously shaped seed pods, late April |
|
| | An odd flush of bloom in late December, up high in the tree |
| 
| | Looking upwards into the canopy highlights the leaf shape against the sky |
|
In our garden, this plant grows in the following areas: back fence border, right-fence nursery area About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Bauhinia lunarioides
- Seed from '20 garden. File-nicked, baggy 70F (100%G, 7-12d)
- Seed from '21 garden. Sandpaper-nicked, baggy 70F (87%G, 9-13d)
I welcome comments about my web pages; feel free to use the form below to
leave feedback about this particular page. For the benefit of other visitors
to these pages, I will list any relevant comments you leave, and if
appropriate, I will update my page to correct mis-information. Faced with an
ever-increasing onslaught of spam, I'm forced to discard any comments including
html markups. Please submit your comment as plain text. If you have a
comment about the website as a whole, please leave it in my
guestbook. If you
have a question that needs a personal response, please
e-mail me.
|
