Bunga Perak - Bauhinia acuminata,

In Thailand it is called Kalong or กาหลง while in India it is called Kachna. The Javanese call it Kupu-kupu or butterfly while the Sundanese call it Penawar seribu (a thousand panacea). This is a shrub from the family of Leguminosae. It is a native of the Malay Peninsula and is distributed throughout Southeast Asia. The leaves are typical of the genus which has the shape of camel's feet or horse feet, thus, some of the species has been called by that name by the Malays eg. Tapak unta, tapak kuda or kuku kerbau.

Bauhinia acuminata has very beautiful white flowers but unfortunately they are not laced with fragrance. Once they starts blooming it seem endless. Mine has remained dormant for quite sometime until I decided to remove much of its damaged leaves to allow for new leves to grow. Within a few days I started seeing buds sprouting and now it is magnificently flowering.

Nothing much has been done wih regards to their medicinal values by researchers probably because it is not much used in traditional medicine. In Malaysia this plant was used to treat ulceration of the nose in the form of a poultice. The javanese however used the roots to treat cough by making cold extracts. This is usually done by rubbing the root on the back of an earthen pot with a little water. The resulting liquid mixed with fragments of the roots is then given to the patient either mixed with lime or honey. In India the roots are used to treat urinary problem probably by means of hot extraction.