Many of the almost 300 species of Bauhinia are popular garden subjects because of their decorative foliage and ornamental flowers and are widely grown in sub-tropical or tropical regions of the world. Most bauhinias are woody shrubs, some climbing with tendrils or scrambling and some are small trees. The most commonly cultivated is Bauhinia variegata, the orchid tree (not a true orchid), originally from India and China. There are seven bauhinias that are indigenous to southern Africa, and all show horticultural promise. The most well-known and widely cultivated is the pride-of-De Kaap, Bauhinia galpinii, bearing masses of bright orange-red flowers in summer. There is also the yellow bauhinia or bosbeesklou, Bauhinia tomentosa, a large shrub or small tree with bell-shaped yellow flowers; the Kalahari white bauhinia or koffiebeesklou, Bauhinia petersiana, a scrambling shrub or small tree with very crinkled white flowers; the KwaZulu-Natal white bauhinia, Bauhinia natalensis a dainty shrub with bell-shaped white flowers; and the pink bauhinia or sandbeesklou Bauhinia urbaniana a shrub or bushy tree with rose-pink flowers from north-eastern Namibia. After the pride-of-De Kaap, Bauhinia bowkeri is the most striking and although still uncommon in cultivation, it is gaining popularity.

Bauhinia bowkeri is a much-branched, scrambling, woody shrub with a graceful arching habit that can reach a height of 5-6 m. The bark is greyish-brown. The leaves, like all South African bauhinias, are distinctively butterfly-like and consist of two rounded, nearly semi-circular lobes fused along the inner margins as if on a hinge. In this species they are deeply bi-lobed, divided for about two-thirds of their length, and 10-40 mm long x 20-50 mm wide on petioles approx. 15 mm long. The Kei bauhinia flowers profusely during spring and summer (October to December). The flowers are carried in bunches along the branches and at their tips, each bunch consisting up to 6 individual strongly sweet-scented flowers. Long slender buds are enclosed by a brown calyx that splits to the base along one line only to release the flowers. Each flower is ±40 mm long with smooth, pure white wavy petals, ten fertile stamens on ±30 mm long filaments, and a style tipped with a greenish stigma. The calyx persists, becoming maroon-brown streaked with greenish-cream on the outside and greenish-cream on the inside.