Bauhinia is a genus of more than 200 species of flowers. Red bauhinia is also called Butterfly tree, Pink butterfly tree, Purple bauhinia, Purple butterfly tree, Purple orchid tree. It is called Kanchanar and Kaniar in Hindi, Rakta chandan in Marathi, Koiral in Bengali, Og-yokin Assamese, Mandaram, Chuvanna mandram, Kongu, Malayakatti and Kongumandaram in Malayalam, Nilattiruvatti in Tamil, Devakanchan in Kannada. In Oriya we call it Kanchan. It’s Botanical name is Bauhinia variegata Linn. (Bauhinia purpuria Linn.)
This large sized deciduous tree grows up to 10-12 meters in height. Leaves compound with 2 leaflets are deeply notched at the tip. The flowers are followed by 12-inch-long, slender, brown, flat seedpods containing 5-10 seeds which persist on the tree throughout the winter. The flowers are found in many variants. The five-petaled flowers are 7.5-12.5 cm diameter, generally in shades of red, pink, purple, orange, or yellow, and are often fragrant. The tree begins flowering in late winter and often continues to flower into early summer. The petals of Purple orchid tree are narrower than that of Orchid Tree (Bauhinia variegate). On the other hand, the petals of Bauhinia variegata are broad and overlap. This is the month of October and I found these first blooms of the season on the tree.
Its bark, flowers, root have numerous medicinal uses. The Plant pacifies diarrhea, skin diseases, rectal prolapse, diabetes, inflammations, worms, tumors, hemorrhoids, menorrhagia hemoptysis and cervical lymphadinopathy. It is useful in catarrh, infection of children, boil, glandular and swelling In Scrofulathe decoction of Kanchanar bark added with Sunthi(Zingiber Officionale Rosc.) powder. It cures scrofula. Decoction of Kanchanar and Triphla (mixture of harida i.e.Terminalia chebula, bahada i.e.Terminalia bellirica and amla i.e. Emblica officinalis added with Pippali (Long pepper or Piper longum) powder is beneficial in treatment of Goiter. The powder of kanchanar flower added to with honey cures Hemorrhagic disorders. Theflower is used with sugar as a laxative. The Powder of Kanchanar root is effective if given with butter milk is useful in treatment of Hemorrhoids. Decoction of Kanchanar bark is useful in leprosy, skin diseases, diarrhea, and boil.
At home often we use this as a delicacy. My mother prepares a tasty dish of its flowers. The petals are washed. 6 or 7 petals together are dipped in a batter of sunned rice spiced with turmeric powder, salt and chili powder and is fried on a pan. It tastes awesome when taken with hot rice. Try that.
