Erythrina crista-galli

Cockspur Coral Tree, Common Coral Tree

Deciduous, Evergreen, Trees, Flowers

ERYTHRINA

Many species; known and used chiefly in frost-free parts of Arizona, Florida, Southern California, and Hawaii. Valued for brilliant flowers in colors ranging from greenish white through yellow to light or vivid shades of orange and red. The flat, beanlike pods following bloom contain poisonous seeds. Leaves are divided into three leaflets. These are typically thorny plants with strong structural value, both in and out of leaf. To eliminate too rapid, succulent growth and limb breakage in larger species, give little or no irrigation during dry weather and prune after flowering.

Erythrina crista-galli

Shrub or tree to 15–20 ft. tall and as wide in nearly frostless areas; perennial to half that size in colder part of range. Native to South America. Many-stemmed, rough-barked plant, with 6-in. leaves divided into 2–3-in.-long leaflets. First flowers form after leaves unfurl in spring, when each branch tip flaunts a big, loose, spikelike cluster of velvety, birdlike blossoms in warm pink to wine red (color varies with the plant). Depending on environment, there may be as many as three distinct flowering periods, spring through autumn. Cut back old flower stems after each wave of bloom.