As far as city emblems go, the bauhinia is having a good run. While many countries use national monuments, royalty or dead presidents, Hong Kong coins minted after 1992 feature the raised image of a bauhinia in all its glory. The flower also enjoys the honour of adorning the Hong Kong flag, which has been in use since the 1997 handover of the territory from British to Chinese rule.

Purplish and spindly, the bauhinia blakeana – sometimes called the Hong Kong orchid – stands out as an exotic bloom growing in the midst of a skyscraper city. Its leaves have a particularly distinctive shape: romantics call it a rounded heart shape, while the more down-to-earth see it as the outline of a camel’s hoof. Pretty albeit in an awkward way, these features only make the tree more endearing.

The flower's origins are as unique as its appearance. Around 1880, an enthusiastic botanist documented the finding of a single tree of this previously undiscovered bauhinia, and it is possible that this was the original tree from which all others – now commonly found in the city's parks and pavements – came to be. This is because the trees are almost always sterile, meaning they do not produce seeds and must be propagated manually. Although some have been planted in Taiwan and other parts of the world, this particular type of bauhinia tree is considered to be native only to Hong Kong. The flowers of the tree bloom from around November to March.

The bauhinia was adopted as a city emblem half a century ago by the municipal department but gained widespread use since 1997. Its use as an emblem is understandable. In a city that is a mix of the old and the new, the East and the West, the flower is none of the above: it is politically and culturally neutral and leaves little room for controversy or fashionability. It represents the city simply because of its presence.

As if being the centrepiece of a flag and money weren’t enough, the bauhinia also has its own monument. The site of the 1997 handover ceremonies now features a large golden statue of the flower, called the “Forever Blooming Bauhinia,” which stands in Golden Bauhinia Square outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. A flag-raising ceremony takes place there daily at 7.50am accompanied by the national anthem.