Plants in Israel: Coral Bean Tree

Erythrina corallodendron, Erythrina corallodendrum, Coral Bean Tree, Coral tree, West Indian Coral Tree,

Hebrew: אלמוגן רחב-עלים, Arabic: مرجان عريض الاوراق

Scientific name:   Erythrina corallodendron L.
Synonym name:   Erythrina corallodendrum L.
Common name:   Coral Bean Tree, Coral tree, West Indian Coral Tree
Hebrew name:   אלמוגן רחב-עלים
Arabic/الاسم العربي:   مرجان عريض الاوراق
Español:   Erythrina corallodendron
中文-Chinese:   龍牙花
Family:   Fabaceae / Papilionaceae, פרפרניים


Life form:   Small tree or shrub
Stems:   8-10m high; twigs, moderately stout, light brown, strong, conspicuous hooked prickles (resemble a cat claw), lighter raised lenticels; buds small sitting above shallow U-shaped leaf scar; bark, smooth light brown, developing shallow fissures with darker brown ridges giving the bark a striped pattern
Leaves:   Alternate, tri-foliate compound, 12 to 20 cm long, each leaflet nearly heart-shaped (5 to 8 cm long and wide), margins entire, petiole has hooked prickles, green above and below.
Inflorescence:   In long, dense, terminal clusters up to 25cm
Flowers:   Attractive, deep red, each flower is tubular, 2.5-5cm long, appearing in late spring and continuing to the fall.
Fruits / pods:   Sterile hybrid so no fruit is generally formed. Other members of the genus produce a long, leathery twisted, contorted pod.
Flowering Period:   March
Chorotype:   South America
Summer shedding:   Perennating


Derivation of the botanical name:

Erythrina, Coral tree, Greek erythros, red, an allusion to the color of the flower.

corallodendron, Greek, corallion, coral; dendron, tree; specific name of the coral-tree.

  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.

This species is native to Central America and the Caribbean.