Tree Tale | Bauhinia Purpurea | English
Channel: Arvind Gupta
Date: 2015-09-24

BAHUNIA PURPUREA has many common English names. It is also called the Orchid Tree, the Camel’s Foot Tree. In Hindi it is called the KACHNAR. In Marathi it is called KANCHAN. The generic name BAHUNIA commemorates the two brothers Jean Bauhin and Gaspard Bauhin both Swiss botanists. Bahunia is a large genus with over 300 species of plants.
The Purple Bahunia is a medium sized fast growing tree with a dense crown. The leaves are simple and bi-lobed – like the wings of the butterfly. The tree is festooned with many showy and fragrant blossoms – shades from purple, pink to lavender. The petals of the flower are so exquisite so the tree is also called the Orchid Tree. The fruits are green pods when fresh. As they age they become brown – split and twist. 

This work is supported by IUCAA(www.iucaa.ernet.in) and TATA Trust (www.tata.com/aboutus/sub_index/Tata-trusts)

Credits:,Ashok Rupner, Manish Jain, Pradnya Pujari, Shivaji Mane, Jyoti Hiremath, Arvind Gupta, Vidula Mhaiskar TATA Trust: Education is one of the key focus areas for Tata Trusts, aiming towards enabling access of quality education to the underprivileged population in India. To facilitate quality in teaching and learning of Science education through workshops, capacity building and resource creation, Tata Trusts have been supporting Muktangan Vigyan Shodhika (MVS), IUCAA's Children’s Science Centre, since inception. To know more about other initiatives of Tata Trusts, please visit www.tatatrusts.org