Pili Kachnar / Burmese Silk Orchid Tree
Bauhinia tomentosa
Also known as Yellow Orchid Bauhinia, St. Thomas Tree, Yellow Bell Bauhinia
- Habit
- Shrub
- Found in India
- Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Pili Kachnar
Identify Pili Kachnar by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a shrub habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Bell-shaped yellow flowers with maroon throat.
- Confirm leaf type: Bilobed (two leaflets, often butterfly-shaped).
- Confirm leaf shape: Elliptic.
- Confirm flower colour: Yellow.
- Confirm fruit type: Legume.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Bauhinia tomentosa
- Genus
- Bauhinia
- Family
- Caesalpiniaceae
- Habit
- Shrub
- Habitat
- Occasional along river banks
- Habitat type
- Wetland
- Native to
- Southeast Asia
- Distribution
- Africa, Asia
- Found in India
- Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Gujarat, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf type
- Bilobed (two leaflets, often butterfly-shaped)recorded
- Leaf shape
- EllipticrecordedWidest at the middle, tapering evenly at both ends.“Greenish leaves are deeply divided and elliptic in nature;” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Pili Kachnar itself; the rest are typical of the Caesalpiniaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Yellowrecorded
- Fruit type
- LegumerecordedA dry pod that splits open along two seams (typical of the pea/bean family).“The fruit is a pale-brown pod.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Raceme
- Fruit
- Legume
Characters marked “recorded” are for Pili Kachnar itself; the rest are typical of the Caesalpiniaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- पीली कचनार Pili Kachnar
- Nepali
- अमिल टांकि Amil Tanki
- Tamil
- கந்ஜநீ Kanjani, கருநகட்டீ Karunakatti, கட்டாத்தி
- Kannada
- Mandaara Hoo
- Malayalam
- Chanscheha, കന്ജനപ്പു Kancanappu, പിവലാ കന്ജന് Pivala Kanchan
- Marathi
- पिवळा कांचन
About Pili Kachnar
A member of the Caesalpiniaceae family, Burmese Silk Orchid Tree (Bauhinia tomentosa) is a shrub. In India it has been recorded in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and 11 other states. It grows in occasional along river banks. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Caesalpiniaceae
Senna family
Pili Kachnar belongs to the Caesalpiniaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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