Singapore and tropical Asia, Japan and temperate East Asia
Season
winter, spring, autumn
Shape
single flower
Identification
An evergreen tree with large thick leaves cleft like a hoof. Large purplish-red orchid-like flowers 10–15 cm across, five-petalled and fragrant, from early November to the end of March. First found in Hong Kong in the 1880s and shown to be a natural hybrid of Bauhinia purpurea and Bauhinia variegata, highly sterile and setting no viable seed, so every cultivated tree descends from one at the Hong Kong Botanical Gardens, propagated by cuttings and grafts. Hong Kong's floral emblem, on its flag and seal. The Chinese name is disputed: Hong Kong calls it yang zijing, mainland botany hong hua yangtijia.
Habitat
A street and park tree of warm humid climates, widely planted in subtropical cities.
Distribution
Originating in Hong Kong and grown across southern China (Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan, Taiwan), South-East Asia and warm regions worldwide; grown in Singapore, glasshouse-only in Japan outside Okinawa. Shenzhen too has a Bauhinia as its city flower.
Season and behaviour
November to March, winter flowering being its great distinction; December to February in Hong Kong, when the streets turn purple-red.
Photography tips
These are the FilmAnalysis editors' notes, not content from the sources.
Flowering in winter, under low soft light, the purple-red is truest; against blue sky it shifts to magenta, half a stop under. A single flower at eye level for the orchid shape and upturned stamens, macro for the dark stripes on the petals. Winter bauhinias on a Hong Kong street with towers behind are the local emblem. The hoof-shaped leaf deserves a frame too.
Photographic styles
A purple-red tree on a winter street; a single orchid-like flower.
Similar species
Bauhinia purpurea (one parent, smaller narrower-petalled autumn flowers, sets pods); Bauhinia variegata (the other parent, spring, pink-white); hong hua yangtijia is this species' mainland name.
Related badge
None yet. No validated photo recognition exists for this species, so no badge is tied to it: a name in the encyclopedia is not evidence in a photograph.
The illustration is original FilmAnalysis artwork. The photograph is from Wikimedia Commons; its licence and author are under it.
Why it is listed: this species comes from the Flower checklist (GBIF backbone and Wikidata verified). Names follow the GBIF backbone and Wikidata; the facts follow the sources below; photo recognition is not offered.
