Camel toe or Bauhinia, the tree with the most decorative flowers

The tree known as Camel's Foot is one of the most decorative that can exist. It produces large, brightly colored and beautiful flowers, so much so that there are those who think they are as beautiful as those of orchids. Best of all, it is able to withstand frost, so it can be grown outside in temperate regions of the world.

With a minimum of care, having a wonderful garden decorated with this incredible plant will not be complicated at all 😉.

Characteristics of the Camel toe

Bauhinia, known by the common names Camel's Foot, Cow's Foot, Urape, Cow's Helmet, or Hawaiian Orchid Tree, is the genus of more than 200 species in the botanical family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae. It grows naturally in northern India, Vietnam, southeast China, Hawaii, the California coasts, southern Texas, and Florida.

It reaches a height between 6 and 12 meters, with a trunk 30-40cm in diameter. They have a highly branched crown, with branches that can extend from 3 to 6m, with lobed leaves 10-15cm wide, green in color. These can fall during the autumn-winter if the weather is cool, or if they do not receive the amount of water they need. But without any doubt, its main attraction is its flowers.

These beauties they can measure up to 15cm wide, and be very different colors: pink, red, white, orange ... In addition, the tree can produce them throughout the year, so just in case it will not hurt to always have the camera ready to photograph them 😉.

Once they are pollinated, the fruit begins to ripen, which is a dry legume inside which are the seeds, ready to be sown.

How do you take care of yourself?

Having a Bauhinia specimen is a very interesting idea, since as we will now see, it does not require as much care as we might think:

Location

In order to grow well, it must be placed outside, in semi-shadow. It can give you a few hours of direct sunlight in the early morning or late afternoon. In addition, it has to be planted at a minimum distance of 4-5 meters from any tall plant or wall so that tomorrow we can see it in all its splendor.

Its roots are not invasive, so we won't have to worry about the pipes or the floor.

Land

Not demanding. It can grow even in calcareous ones, but it is advisable to be porous and have good drainage so that, in this way, it can root more easily and quickly.

Irrigation

During the summer it should be watered frequently, while the rest of the year the waterings have to be spaced. As usual, will be watered about 3 times a week during the warmer months, and 1-2 / week the rest of the year.

Subscriber

Throughout the year it is advisable to fertilize from time to time with organic fertilizersas humus, manure o guano. A layer of about 3cm thick is poured, carefully mixed with the earth, and finally watered.

Planting time

The best time to plant Bauhinia or Camel toe in the garden is late winter, before the leaves sprout again. In the event that we have acquired it in mid or late spring, we can also plant it in the garden but taking even more care not to manipulate its roots too much.

Multiplication

Seeds

The seeds germinate very well in a matter of 7-10 days if they are subjected to thermal shock in spring. This is a pre-germination treatment that consists of introducing them in a glass of boiling water for 1 second, and then in another glass with water at room temperature for 24 hours. So that they do not suffer or suffer any damage, it is very useful to use a strainer.

At the end of those 24 hours, we have to sow them in individual pots or in seedling trays placed in semi-shade. We will put a maximum of two seeds in each alveolus and cover them with a thin layer of substrate, which can be composed of black peat and perlite in equal parts. Why so few? Because when they are very young they have a hard time overcoming the transplant.

So, we will leave them in those pots or trays until we see that roots grow out of the drainage holes, and next spring we can move them to a larger pot or to the garden.

So that the fungi cannot harm them, it is very important to do preventive treatments with sulfur or copper in spring and autumn, and with spray fungicides in summer.

Cuttings

An also quick way to obtain new specimens is by planting cuttings in spring. These They must be at least 40cm long, and they must be bevel cut (that is, it must not be a straight cut, but slightly sloping). Afterwards, we moisten the base well with water and impregnate it with powdered rooting hormones.

Then we plant the cuttings in a pot with growing substrate that has very good drainage, such as black peat with 50% perlite or vermiculite. We water well and keep it in semi-shade.

If everything goes fine, will root in 1-2 months.

Rusticity

Bauhinia is a tree that resists well to frosts of up to -5ºC.

What did you think of this tree? 🙂