Purple Orchid Tree / Kachnar

The listing is preorder only, not available for viewing without 1 weeks notice. We can deliver for $19.

It's not often we find an edible tree, that is stunning like a jacaranda, easy to grow and an important medicinal and culturally significant wonder. Doesn't stop there! It's nitrogen fixer too!

The Purple Orchid Tree (Bauhinia purpurea) is a stunning deciduous feature tree with deep pink-purple orchid-like flowers that bloom from summer through autumn. Culturally significant across India and Southeast Asia, it's also known as the Butterfly Tree thanks to its twin-lobed leaves and fluttery canopy. In Indian home gardens, the young buds and leaves are used in cooking. Its flowers bring in native bees and butterflies, making it a favourite for pollinator-rich landscapes and food forest edges.

Features:
Ideal prune height: 2.5–4 m
pH range: 6.0–7.5
Sun preference: Full sun
Minimum pot size by year 5: 75 L
Time to flower: Already flowering or within 1–2 years
Harvest period: Summer–Autumn flowering
Notable traits: Edible buds, nitrogen-fixing support, pollinator magnet, tropical appearance, culturally sacred

This tree thrives in sandy Perth soils with added compost and will handle heat and light frost. Its open canopy lets filtered light reach understory plants, making it a useful part of multi-tiered food forests or syntropic designs. In permaculture systems, it can be coppiced to use as chop-and-drop mulch, while still offering beauty and function.

Perfect for Indian families seeking meaningful garden trees, landscapers wanting a Jacaranda alternative with more resilience, and permaculture growers wanting beauty, food, and nitrogen support in one tree.

EDIBLE
There's Several edible parts valued in traditional Indian cooking. The flower buds are the most prized, commonly cooked in curries or chutneys for their slightly bitter and aromatic flavour, earning a solid 4-star food rating. Young leaves are also edible and often used like spinach or stirred into dal, with a mild, slightly mucilaginous texture. Tender pods can be boiled, stir-fried, or pickled when young, offering a nutty flavour, though they become bitter when mature. Occasionally, the flowers themselves are added to salads as a mild and decorative edible garnish.

MEDICINAL USES AND TRADITIONAL USES
In traditional Ayurvedic medicine, Bauhinia purpurea holds a respected place as a gentle digestive aid and wound healer. The buds are commonly used in recipes aimed at relieving bloating and digestive discomfort, while decoctions of the bark are taken to ease ulcers and gut inflammation. Poultices made from the bark or leaves are applied to skin irritations, boils, and minor wounds. In folk practice, the powdered bark is also used for mild liver conditions, and floral or leaf infusions are sipped to soothe sore throats and calm coughs. These uses are based on centuries of oral and herbal tradition, though formal scientific backing remains limited.

Modern pharmacological studies are beginning to explore these traditional claims. Lab tests show the plant contains anti-inflammatory compounds, particularly in its bark and flowers, which may support its use in treating swelling and skin conditions. It also demonstrates antioxidant activity due to its high flavonoid content. Some early studies on diabetic rats suggest potential blood sugar–lowering effects, and mild antibacterial properties have been recorded from bark and leaf extracts. While promising, more clinical research is needed before these findings can be fully confirmed in humans.

Known as

• Hindi: कचनार (Kachnar)
• Tamil: மண்டாரை (Mandārai)
• Telugu: దేవకంచనము (Devakanchanamu)
• Kannada: ದೇವಕಂಚನ (Devakanchana)
• Malayalam: മണ്റാര (Manṭṭāra)
• Bengali: কচন (Kachon)
• Marathi: कांचन (Kanchan)
• Gujarati: કંચન (Kanchan)

bauhinia, Purple Orchid Tree, Butterfly Tree, edible landscape tree, Indian sacred garden plant, subtropical ornamental, syntropic support tree, nitrogen-fixing ornamental, Perth rare tree nursery