Larval Host Plant
Cheritra freja – Common Imperial
Charaxes schreiber – Blue Nawab
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Other notes
Other Name Combinations: Phanera phoenicea (WFO 2024).
Natural History: Endemic Climbing Shrub.
It is a woody climbing shrub endemic to the Western Ghats. The leaves are distinctive butterfly-shaped, with young foliage displaying a delicate scarlet hue. The showy flowers, resembling orchids, are scarlet red with five petals, clustered at the branch-ends. It produces long, slender pods that split open when mature to release the seeds. The flowering season is from December to April (Flowers of India 2024; WFO 2024).
Vernacular Name: Kannada: Balli Mandara (ಬಳ್ಳಿ ಮಂದಾರ), Kempu Yatha Balli (ಕೆಂಪು ಯಾತ ಬಳ್ಳಿ); Malayalam: Thukarakalli (തുക്കരകല്ലി), Vallimandaram (വള്ളിമന്ദാരം); Tamil: Thukarakkali (தூக்கரக்களி) (Flowers of India 2024).
References:
Flowers of India (2024): Scarlet Bauhinia. Accessed on 13 Feb 2024. URL: https://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Scarlet%20Bauhinia.html
Naik, D., and M. S. Mustak (2020). Additions to known larval host plants of butterflies of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 12(1): 15205–15207. DOI: 10.11609/jott.4770.12.1.15205-15207
Nitin, R., V. C. Balakrishnan, P. V. Churi, S. Kalesh, S. Prakash, and K. Kunte. (2018). Larval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 10(4):11495–11550. DOI: 10.11609/jott.3104.10.4.11495-11550
Sujitha, P. C., G. Prasad, and K. Sadasivan. (2019). Butterflies of the myristica swamp forests of Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary in the southern Western Ghats, Kerala, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 11(3): 13320–13333. DOI: 10.11609/jott.4399.11.3.13320-13333
WFO (2024): Bauhinia phoenicea B.Heyne ex Wight & Arn. Accessed on 13 Feb 2024. URL: https://wfoplantlist.org/taxon/wfo-0000203494-2023-12
Page citation
Kawthankar, N. 2025. Bauhinia phoenicea B.Heyne ex Wight & Arn. – Scarlet Bauhinia. In Kunte, K., S. Sondhi, and P. Roy (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 4.12. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/bauhinia-phoenicea, accessed 2025/05/21.