Erythrina

Family Fabaceae. A genus of deciduous shrubs or trees of various heights (from 0.8 to 18 m), belonging to the Fabaceae family, comprising 126 species of plants from tropical regions of the world.

Today both the original forms and a variety of hybrids are cultivated.

Erythrinas are very decorative; they bloom for a long time and abundantly, prized for their magnificent red flowers of curious shapes in large showy inflorescences. Since most erythrinas have coral-red flower coloration and red bean-like seeds, this feature is reflected in the scientific name of the genus — from the Greek "erythros" — red. Because of the bright red color of their distinctive shiny flowers and the abundant large inflorescences, they are called the coral tree. But there are also species of erythrina with orange, yellow and even white flowers, as in the Sandwiched or Hawaiian erythrina Erythrina sandwicensis. Erythrina flowers are magnificent nectar sources; they produce so much nectar that when the corollas are overfilled it pours out of them. Therefore this plant is also called the tree with the tears of a baby. In their native range they are pollinated by insects, small birds such as hummingbirds, and sometimes by small animals — rodents and primates.

Erythrina flowers are used as food by local people, and the decorative large seeds (in E. caffra they are red with a black spot) are used as beads. Finely ground wood of the Indian erythrina (Erythrina indica) is used in cosmetics.

Erythrinas often have large flattened spines on the branches and leaf petioles. Some hybrids (for example, the variegated Indian erythrina Erythrina indica picta variegata) have decorative golden-green foliage.

Care:

Erythrina (cock's comb) is a sun- and moisture-loving plant. It prefers abundant watering in summer, humid air (or frequent misting), well-drained, very nutritious, preferably heavy soils with some sand, slightly acidic to neutral substrates. The best mix is clay-loam, humus soil and sand (2:2:1). In summer water erythrina abundantly (without letting the substrate dry out and without waterlogging); frequent misting is very beneficial.

In temperate climates, in indoor, balcony or garden culture, erythrina usually blooms for about 2–3 months, starting from mid-summer, while in greenhouses it blooms in spring — in March–April. In spring and summer, indoor specimens are preferably kept outdoors or planted in the ground after night temperatures stabilize above 12–15°C. Place it during the growth period in a warm, draft-protected, bright sunny location.

When keeping plants in indoor culture in winter, a cool windowsill is suitable. For mature specimens a dark winter rest may be recommended: in autumn the plant should preferably be repotted, cut back to old wood and placed in a dark room at 5–10°C, where it is kept buried in sand. With the onset of sap flow and the appearance of growth signs the plant is started to be watered and misted.

During the active growth period erythrina is regularly fed twice a month with a complete mineral fertilizer. At the end of summer feedings are stopped so that the plant drops its leaves and prepares for dormancy.

Erythrina tolerates pruning well, which is especially necessary in autumn after leaf fall, when some of the young shoots, including all flowering shoots with unpollinated flowers, die back. Repotting the plant is usually done in late winter or early spring.

Propagation by seeds, which require softening of the seed coat by soaking, and with greater difficulty — by young semi-hardwood cuttings. Erythrina seeds retain viability for a fairly long time and plants grown from them, according to some authors, turn out to be more beautiful and vigorous than cut-propagated specimens. When sown in a warm place seedlings appear in about a month. Seedlings of erythrina flower in 5–7 years. At the same time, a positive aspect of propagation by cuttings is rapid flowering, approximately at one or two years of age.