orchid tree

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Any of various tropical or subtropical trees of the genus Bauhinia in the pea family, having showy, irregular, usually lavender to purple flowers and deeply emarginate leaves, and widely grown as ornamentals.
• noun A tree (Amherstia nobilis) in the pea family native to Myanmar (Burma), having compound leaves and a great profusion of large, irregular, yellow-spotted scarlet flowers.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun small East Indian tree having orchid-like flowers and hard dark wood