What i think is a Bauhinia X blakeana is flowering outside my house. It's a sterile hybrid of 2 Bauhinia species, giving rise to the purple/white orchid-looking flowers. Very striking.

How to identify this tree:
1. Distinctive leaf morphology - bilobed with a deep notch in the middle
2. Flowers (if flowering) have 5 petals (that have orchid-like pigmentation), 5 smaller sepals (orchids ain't got any), and a very distinct curved carpel, with a couple stamens below it.

I believe it to be in the Caesalpinoideae subfamily of the Fabaceae family.

Lots of legumes around me. Gah. There used to be an Erythrina tree downstairs too, with red blooms. That got chopped down.