Bauhinia racemosa seed

Scientific Name-Bauhinia Racemosa

Family-Leguminosae

Subfamily-Caesalpinioideae

Description-Slow growing, small to moderate sized deciduous tree

These trees are easy to maintain, and make an excellent patio container plant. This is a small flowering tree; it produces stunning orchid like white flowers throughout the spring and summer they are also lovely specimen trees, even when not in Flower, the shrub has attractive lobed leaves characteristic of all Bauhinia species. If you prune them their first few years so the canopy is properly shaped. Many bauhinia will flower within a year from seed, and most within 2 years.

Flowers of bauhinia do resemble those of orchids, and are the main attraction. Bauhinia has several advantages for the gardener or landscaper. They are small sized tree, so controlling their size is easy to do. They even make great potential Bonsai plants, and do have a bit of an Oriental flair to them, at least in tree shape. A beautiful canopy that can be controlled in height is always a plus.
Grow Bauhinia from Seed
Bauhinia seeds are usually flat and hard. They begin to germinate on their own. Germination can speed up with soaking in water over night or for faster germination using a set of nail clippers and very gently clipping one corner of the long top of one seed, just removing enough of the outer shell covering to expose the greenish white seed beneath. Then soak them in a shallow bowl of water overnight, enough to see them slightly swell. You can then place them on dampened paper towels, beside each other, and place in a plastic baggie under the sink or some other dark place. Check daily for germination. This is when you will see on one end, a little sprout. It can take anywhere from 3 days to 6 weeks. Now they are ready to plant in a moist well drained soil.