Texas Gardening: Texas Native Plant Pictures ( Trees ), 0 by htop

htop wrote:
Orchid tree, Napoleon's plume, butterfly flower, pink orchid tree, poor man's orchid (Bauhinia monandra), Caesalpiniaceae Family, naturalized, hardy in Zones 10-11, blooms April through July, shrub or small tree

Pink orchid tree can attain a height of 20 feet and has a spreading habit. The 4 to 6 inches across leaves are cleft almost to the middle which gives them the shape of a hoof print. In April through July, the blooms appear in terminal racemes. The blooms, which look like orchids, start out a pale yellow, but turn to pink the next day and the center petal is streaked with magenta. The seed are enclosed in pea-like pods which are between 6 inches and 1 foot long. Although not usually necessary, they can be pruned after flowering. Pink orchid trees sometimes suffer from chlorosis and may be treated with iron chelate.

For more information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/53511/index.html

Blooms look like orchids hence the tree's name. Photo courtesy of TopTropicals.com.