Erythrina crista-galli

Erythrina crista-galli, the cockspur coral tree, is an exotic in Africa, occasionally planted in urban settings in South Africa as an ornamental tree. It is common in California, indigenous in several South American countries where it is commonly called the ceibo (Spanish) and by several other names. This is the national tree of Argentina.

The flowers grow solitary or in small groups in long, lax racemes. Flower colour varies between the common scarlet-red to the less seen pink, red-purple or white-marked versions. The bilaterally symmetric (and bisexual or complete) flowers have five sepals and petals respectively.

The standard petal is biggest, the wings about concealed within the calyx. The two partly fused keel petals cover the stamens that in turn cover the style. Stamens can sometimes be seen protruding from the keel tips of the flowers. Flowers are about 5 cm long and 2,5 cm wide.

Flowering happens in spring and summer. Crista-galli means cock’s comb in Latin. Nectar incentivised insects crawl into the keel (or carina), performing a particular form of the ubiquitous pollination ritual that links animals and flowering plants worldwide.

The fruit is a typical leguminous pod, becoming a few centimetres long and dry when ripe. A pod bears about nine chestnut-brown, bean-shaped seeds. The two cotyledons of each seed remain underground upon germination, described as hypogeal.

The natural habitat of E. crista-galli is forests near watercourses, swamps and wetlands (www.smgrowers.com; Wikipedia).