Bauhinia × blakeana Dunn, or the Hong Kong Orchid Tree, is a popular ornamental plant in the tropical and subtropical regions. In this study, we report and characterise the complete plastid genome of B. × blakeana in an effort to provide genomic resources for genetic utilization. The complete plastome is 156,100 bp in length and contains the typical quadripartite structure, including two inverted repeat (IR) regions of 25,847 bp, a large single-copy (LSC) region of 86,484 bp and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 17,922 bp. 126 genes are annotated, including 81 protein-coding genes, 37 transfer RNA genes, and eight ribosomal RNA genes. The phylogenetic analysis based on the plastomes from B. × blakeana and 11 previously reported species of Cercidoideae suggested a sister-relationship between B. × blakeana and B. acuminata L. with strong bootstrap support.

We report here for the first time the complete plastid genome of Cheniella didyma of the legume family. The plastid genome has a typical circular structure with a total length of 157,186 bp and contains two inverted repeat regions (IRs, 24,455 bp), a large single-copy region (LSC, 89,410 bp), and a small single-copy region (SSC, 18,866 bp). This is the first report of the complete plastid genome sequence of Cheniella , a genus recently segregated from Bauhinia s.l. The phylogenetic analysis based on 77 coding regions of the plastome of this species and those of the related species strongly suggested that C. didyma is sister to Lysiphyllum and is not directly related to Bauhinia s.s.