Orchid Tree
Bauhinia variegata
Found in disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
-85
Severe harm
Not native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 6%
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Do not plant. Listed invasive in Florida.
At a glance
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 17 Florida counties.
Habitats
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
10CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Bauhinia
- Automeris ioIo Moth
- Cecropterus dorantesDorantes Longtail, Lilac-Banded Longtail
- Fundella pellucensCaribbean Podborer
- Mesophleps adustipennisSoybean Webworm Moth
- Phoebis sennaeCloudless Sulphur
- Platynota rostranaOmnivorous Platynota
- Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformisEvergreen Bagworm Moth
- Urbanus proteusLong-Tailed Skipper, Bean Leaf Roller
- Fundella argentina
- Oryctometopia fossulatella
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimGrowing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Fabaceae
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Conservation status
| Florida rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Native alternatives
Find natives for your gardenSources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- Florida Invasive Species Council list
- FloraQuest: Florida (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications