Bauhinia monandra
(Napoleon's plume)

Preferred Scientific Name

• Bauhinia monandra Kurz

Preferred Common Name

• Napoleon's plume

Other Scientific Names

• Bauhinia kappleri Sagot
• Bauhinia krugii Urb.
• Bauhinia porosa Baill.
• Bauhinia punctiflora Baker
• Bauhinia richardiana Voight
• Caspareopsis monandra (Kurz) Britton & Rose
• Caspariopsis monandra (Kurz) Britton & Rose

International Common Names

• English: butterfly flower; Jerusalem date; orchid tree; pink bauhinia; pink butterfly tree; pink orchid tree; St. Thomas tree
• Spanish: huella de vaca; orquidea de pobre; pata de vaca

Local Common Names

• Australia: pink orchid-tree
• Brazil: mororo; pata-de-vaca
• Cook Islands: ipena; pi; pine; pipi
• Cuba: casco de mulo
• Dominican Republic: flamboyan cubano; flamboyan extranjero; flamboyant chino; palo de vaca; semirubia
• French Polynesia: pine; piné
• Haiti: caractere des hommes; deux jumelles; flamboyant etranger; jumelle; les deux jumelles
• Lesser Antilles: Napoleon's cocked hat
• Madagascar: bagnaka; banaka; banakafotsy
• Puerto Rico: alas de angel; baujinia; flamboyan blanco; mariposa; seplina; varital
• Samoa: vae povi
• Tonga: fehi; napoleone

• Domain: Eukaryota
•     Kingdom: Plantae
•         Phylum: Spermatophyta
•             Subphylum: Angiospermae
•                 Class: Dicotyledonae
•                     Order: Fabales
•                         Family: Fabaceae
•                             Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
•                                 Genus: Bauhinia
•                                     Species: Bauhinia monandra

Fabaceae is a highly diverse family of flowering plants. This family includes about 745 genera and 19,500 species which can be found throughout the world growing in a great variety of climates and environments (Stevens, 2012). The genus Bauhinia is listed within the Cercideae clade in the Caesalpinoid subfamily, and includes about 250 species distributed mainly in tropical and temperate regions of the world (Stevens, 2012). The genus includes trees, lianas, and shrubs that are frequently planted for their showy flowers and ornamental foliage (Connor, 2002).

B. monandra is a tree with young lightly pubescent branches. Leaves ovate- orbicular, up to 20 cm long and almost as wide, chartaceous to subcoriaceous, glabrous above, pubescent on veins below, basally cordate to truncate, apically cleft up to 1/3 the length of the leaf, lobes blunt, rounded; petiole lightly pubescent, up to 6 cm. long, with bilobate callus at insertion of the leaf. Inflorescence a terminal few-flowered raceme. Flowers large, showy; sepals fused to form a spathe about 15-20 mm long. Petals about 4-5 cm long, distinctly clawed. Stamen solitary, filament glabrous, about 25-50 mm long. Anther about 5-6 mm long. Staminodes nine. Style about 35 mm long. Fruits are pods slightly inflated, not flat, about 16-24 x 2-2.5 cm. Pods explosively dehiscent, throwing seeds in all directions. Seeds flat, about 10-12 x 7-8 mm, about 10-20 per pod.

In the West Indies, B. monandra was probably introduced later in the 1800s to be used as an ornamental. By the early twentieth century it was reported as naturalized in the Dominican Republic (Urban, 1905) and by 1920 it was also listed for Jamaica, Cuba, Puerto Rico, St Kitts, St Vincent, and Guadeloupe (Urban, 1920). 

Soil drainage

• free

Soil reaction

• neutral

Soil texture

• light
• medium

Special soil tolerances

• infertile

B. monandra reproduces by seed. Seeds are spread when they are ingested and expelled by birds and other animals. Seeds can be also dispersed by water, particularly from ornamental plantings located near waterways, and in dumped garden waste (Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, 2011).

B. monandra is regarded as an environmental weed in northern Queensland and is included in the Queensland Priority Weed List. In Australia it invades and displaces native vegetation in open woodlands, forests and conservation areas (Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, 2011). It also invades dry forests and arid environments on Pacific islands (i.e., Northern Mariana Islands and Galápagos Islands) and it is considered a weed in Guam and Hawaii (McMullen, 1999; PIER, 2014). In the Dominican Republic this species is also listed as invasive (Kairo et al., 2003). 

• Proved invasive outside its native range
• Highly adaptable to different environments
• Tolerates, or benefits from, cultivation, browsing pressure, mutilation, fire etc
• Pioneering in disturbed areas
• Benefits from human association (i.e. it is a human commensal)
• Long lived
• Fast growing
• Has propagules that can remain viable for more than one year

• Altered trophic level
• Damaged ecosystem services
• Ecosystem change/ habitat alteration
• Modification of nutrient regime
• Modification of successional patterns
• Monoculture formation
• Reduced native biodiversity
• Soil accretion
• Threat to/ loss of native species

• Competition - monopolizing resources
• Competition - shading
• Competition - smothering
• Rapid growth

• Highly likely to be transported internationally deliberately

B. monandra is often planted for its showy flowers and ornamental foliage; it is also used for fuelwood in Puerto Rico and for fences in Jamaica (Connor, 2002). This species is commonly cultivated as a garden and street tree in the tropical regions of Australia, America, Asia, and the West Indies (USDA-ARS, 2014). Seeds are a useful source of vitamin A. In general, Bauhinia seeds contain high amounts of linoleic and oleic fatty acids and low amounts of myristic and linolenic fatty acids (Connor, 2002).