Plant Name
Scientific Name: Erythrina flabelliformis
Common Names: Coralbean, Southwestern Coral Bean
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial, Deciduous
Growth Habit: Tree, Shrub
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert, Upland
Flower Color: Red
Flowering Season: Spring, Summer
Height: To 15 feet (4.6 m) tall, but usually much less here in Arizona due to frosts and limited rainfall
Description: The 3 inch (7.6 cm) long, tubular flowers are in showy terminal clusters at the tips of the woody stems. The flowers often appear before the plants leaf out and are followed by large, brown pods with several large, attractive, highly toxic, red beans. When they are present, the green leaves are divided into 3 fan-shaped leaflets. There are short, curved spines on the stems and leafstalks.
Special Characteristics
Hummingbird Flower – The nectar-filled flowers attract hummingbirds.
Poisonous – All parts of this plant are poisonous, but the red beans are by far the most highly toxic. This plant contains Erythrina alkaloids, which include the curare-like beta-erythroidine. Warning: The brightly colored beans are very attractive to children.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae – Pea family
Genus: Erythrina L. – erythrina
Species: Erythrina flabelliformis Kearney – coralbean
More About This Plant