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Bauhinia yunnanensis (Yunnan Bauhinia) - A tendril-bearing, semi-deciduous vine that can spread to 25 feet with 2 inch long, deeply cleft heart-shaped, light green leaves. The slightly fragrant light lavender/rose-pink orchid-like flowers are five-petaled, of which the upper three are veined with deep purple red. Brown seed pods follow the spring through fall bloom.
Plant in full to part sun where once established it is somewhat tolerant of light frost and drought, but looks better if planted in a warm, protected area and given regular watering. Hardy and evergreen to about 20-25° F but planted as a deciduous vine in the southeastern US where it is considered hardy to below 10° F.
Bauhinia yunnanensis comes from the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou where it grow up to 6,000' in elevation. The name " Bauhinia " was a name given this genus by Linnaeus to honor the twin brothers Johann and Gaspard Bauhin, who were 16th century Swiss scientists - Johann was a botanist and Gaspard a botanist and physician. Using the name of these identical twin is fitting as Bauhina leaves are composed of two identical lobes. The specific epithet references the area where this plant is native to. We have grown this plant since 1988 under the name Bauhinia corymbosa, so named in reference to the clusters of flowers, and this name has been erroneously and widely long been used for this plant in horticultural trades. We believe it was introduced using this name by the famous Evans and Reeves Nursery in the 1930s but the true Bauhinia corymbosa is a tender more tropical plant with clusters of small white flowers and long pink stamens that likely could not be grown unprotected in California and the plant in cultivation is actually Bauhinia yunnanensis. We have grown this plant since 1990 and listed it until 2017 as Bauhinia corymbosa but the changed the name to Bauhinia yunnanensis. We note that it is still widely listed as Bauhinia corymbosa and has also been offered at Bauhinia bohniana.
This information about Bauhinia yunnanensis displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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