Bauhinia variegata — a botanical portrait of Kovidar.

Morphology

A small to medium deciduous tree, 10–12 m in height, with a wide, spreading crown and a short, often crooked trunk. The bark is pale grey-brown, with shallow, irregular fissures. Young shoots are slightly pubescent.

Leaves

The leaves are the tree’s signature: simple, alternate, and bilobed — two rounded lobes joined at a central spine, the form of an inverted heart, or, as folk tradition has it, the print of a camel’s hoof. They are 8–16 cm long, slightly leathery, with palmate venation.

Flowers

Flowers are large (8–10 cm across), in lax racemes at the branch tips, opening on bare branches before the new leaves emerge. The five petals are unequal, in pink, magenta, lavender or (in var. candida) white. One petal is typically slightly more pigmented and acts as a nectar-guide for pollinators.

Fruit

The fruit is a flat, dehiscent legume pod, 15–30 cm long, containing 10–15 brown seeds. The pods ripen in May–June and split with a soft crack, scattering seeds.

Flowering & seasonality

• Leaf-fall: November – January
• Flowering: February – April
• New leaves: April – May
• Fruiting: May – June

Ecological role

Kovidar is a nitrogen-fixing legume, supporting soil fertility through Rhizobium symbiosis in its root nodules. It is an early-season nectar source for native bees, sunbirds and butterflies; the seeds are eaten by jungle birds and rodents.

Distribution

Native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with naturalised populations in Africa, the Caribbean, parts of the southern United States and Australia. In India, it grows from sea level to 1500 m elevation across most states.

Planting & care

• Position: full sun, well-drained soil, sheltered from strong wind
• Pit size: 60 × 60 × 60 cm with mixed compost & neem cake
• Watering: deep watering every 3 days for first month, then weekly
• First flowering: typically year 3
• Pruning: light, post-monsoon, to shape the canopy

How to identify a Kovidar

The most reliable single field-mark is the bilobed leaf. If the leaf you are holding looks like two leaflets fused at a central vein — cleft at the tip but joined at the base — it is almost certainly a Bauhinia. Of the Indian Bauhinias, B. variegata is the most common urban species and the one with large pink-purple flowers in early spring.