Erythrina latissima flower near Port Edward

Erythrina latissima, the broad-leaved coral tree, resembles E. abyssinica that only grows in Africa to the north of South Africa. E. latissima leaves are soft and velvety when young, becoming leathery when mature. The flowers are bright red, based on a grey, woolly calyx.

Gardeners commonly grow this tree from seed or truncheons. It is slow-growing and reasonably frost resistant in spite of being restricted in the natural state to the eastern, warmer parts of South Africa.