Common name: Malabar bauhinia, Purple orchid tree. Tamil name: Vellathi, Mantharai, Malai-y-atti
Malabar bauhinia was initially recorded in the Malabar coast hence called so. However, it is not a common tree in that area. The tree grows to a height of about 10-15 meters and form a big umbrella like crown. The bark ot the tree is brown with peelings. It considered as a dioecious tree with male and female flowers in different trees. It prefers the low hill areas of altitude range of about 600 msl. I have found this tree mostly near river banks. The leafs are arranged in an alternate manner and leaves have a soft velvety feel and are notably bifid. The leaf stalk measure around 3.1 cm, the leaf length was measured around 8 cm and the leaf across measurers around 9.3 cm. The lower and upper portion of the leaf are heart shaped. The flowers are axillary short pendulous racemes and flowers are white-pink in color, at first look easily mistaken for a tubular flower. The flower measurers around 1.2 cm . The male flowers have 10 stamens and the female flowers have staminodes. The fruit is in the form of a pod which is initially green and have an undulating margin. On maturity they turn brown. The pod measurers around 37 cm in length and the fruit stalk measure around 9.5 cm. The tree is native to the Asian tropical region. The name “Piliostigma refers to the stigma of the flowers which is “cap” like. A rare handsome tree. We should be planting more of this.
