Red bauhinia

How to identify a red bauhinia

A spreading, many-stemmed shrub, usually 1 to 4 metres tall, that often leans or climbs into nearby trees and can reach 5 metres or more. Young twigs are finely hairy. Each leaf is 2 to 7 cm long and split at the end into two rounded halves, and is often creased along the midrib so it looks like a resting butterfly. Clusters of 2 to 10 flowers form near the branch tips; each has five orange to dark red petals that narrow to a stalk-like base. Flat pods 8 to 13 cm long ripen dark brown. The purple orchid tree and other tree bauhinias share the two-lobed leaves but are upright trees with larger leaves and white, pink or purple flowers.

Growing a red bauhinia in Brisbane

Red bauhinia is commonly planted in gardens and amenity plantings across south-east Queensland, and like other bauhinias it does best in full sun and well-drained soil. The trouble is escapes. Wild plants have been found beside roads and railways, in urban bushland and creek-side scrub, and on coastal dunes around Brisbane, mostly where garden waste was dumped. Seed can also be carried by water, mowers and slashers. It spreads slowly, but once it settles in it forms dense thickets.

What to watch out for

Brisbane City Council includes red bauhinia on its weed list, though no legal declaration or requirement applies. A south-east Queensland weed key describes it as an environmental weed on the rise in the region: plants escape mainly in dumped garden waste, seed also moves with water and mowers, and over time it forms dense thickets that can climb into the bushland canopy. The Queensland Government's WildNet database also flags it as an environmental weed that has naturalised in Queensland. If yours grows near bushland or a creek, consider replacing it with a native shrub.

• Seedlings. It has escaped around Brisbane, mostly in dumped garden waste, and slowly builds dense thickets that can climb into the canopy of bushland.

Pruning and care

Bauhinias seldom need pruning, but a trim after flowering helps keep red bauhinia compact and out of nearby trees. Never dump the prunings in bushland or along a creek, because dumped garden waste is how it most often escapes; bag them or use your green waste bin instead. If you decide to remove it, Council's weed tool lists cut stump, basal bark and stem injection as control methods, and a tree service can deal with large clumps and stumps.

• Tree removal
• Tree pruning
• Stump grinding