Bauhinia racemosa (Bidi Leaf Tree)

English Common Name(s): Bidi Leaf Tree, Indian Kanchan

Hindi Name(s): कचनाल / अपटा

Botanical Name: Bauhinia racemosa Lam.

Synonyms: Pauletia racemosa (Lam.) A.Schmitz, Piliostigma racemosum (Lam.) Benth., Telestria racemosa (Lam.) Raf.

Family: Fabaceae

Distribution: India to South China and Indo-China.

Uses: This tree is commonly known as the ‘Bidi leaf tree’ because its leaves were traditionally used in rural areas of Gujarat and Maharashtra for making bidis, a type of hand-rolled cigarette. Valued for their durability and texture, they are ideal for rolling tobacco. Diospyros melanoxylon Roxb. (Tendu leaf) is also used for the same purpose [1]. This practice has made the tree important in rural areas where bidi production is common. In Maharashtrian families, it is customary to exchange leaves of the Aapta tree on the festive day of Dussehra [1] [2]. An act known as exchanging Gold, pointing to the special significance of the plant on that particular day.

Bauhinia racemosa (Bidi Leaf Tree)

A small tree with short, somewhat crooked bole and a spreading crown. Leaves broadly orbicular, bifid at apex. Inflorescence a lateral or terminal raceme. Flowers small, petals creamy, fertile stamens 10. Fruit linear, sub-cylindric, woody, up to 20 cm long.

Flowering & Fruiting: October-April.

Etymology: The genus name Bauhinia is named after two illustrious Swiss botanists, the brothers John and Caspar Bauhin. John (1541-1613) was responsible among other works for the great Historia Plantarum, published nearly forty years after his death. Caspar (1560-1624) produced a valuable collection of synonyms. It has been suggested that the twin leaflobes of the plant typify the two brothers. . The specific epithet racemosa originates from “racemus,” describing its inflorescence type where flowers are arranged along an elongated central axis.