Korallipuut – Erythrina

The trunk, young branches, petioles and petiolules are often armed with blunt, conical thorns or recurved prickles. Leaves are pinnately trifoliate, with small stipules, often clustered at the ends of branches. Leaflets are entire, usually stalked, broad-ovate, elliptic, often deltoid or rhomboid, bearing fleshy stipels. Inflorescence is axillary or terminal, raceme-like, bearing 2 or more conspicuous flowers. Corolla is often red or orange, usually longer than calyx. Petals are extremely unequal; standard is large, rounded or oblong, erect or spreading, often folded longitudinally; wings short, sometimes absent; keels much shorter than standard. Stamens are diadelphous (1 free and the rest united). Ovary is stipitate (borne on a stalk). Style is inflexed; stigma small, terminal. Fruit is a legume, mostly linear-oblong, often curved, dehiscent, rarely indehiscent, mostly leathery or woody, often constricted between seeds. Seeds are 1-14, ovoid, white, gray, or brown, rarely red with dark spots.

Erythrina is a pantropical genus. It is distributed throughout the tropics extending also into some warm temperate areas.

Deciduous or evergreen trees (up to 30 m) and shrubs, and a few perennial herbs with large, woody rootstocks.

Species of Erythrina differ in their ecological adaptations. Some species occurring at high elevations or higher latitudes have some frost tolerance. Erythina spp. improve soil fertility through fixing of atmospheric nitrogen and leaf litter.

Species of Erythrina differ in their ecological adaptations. Some species occurring at high elevations or higher latitudes have some frost tolerance. Erythina spp. improve soil fertility through fixing of atmospheric nitrogen and leaf litter.

Coral trees are traditionally reproduced from large cuttings, but seed propagation is also possible. They can be established rapidly by planting large stakes. Erythrina spp. are known for their high biomass productivity and utilisation almost always involves frequent pruning. When grown for timber or pulpwood, the tree may be left to grow for 25 years without pruning. For fodder production, the trees can be planted in protein banks at a close spacing and pruned frequently. Species of Erythrina are intercropped e.g. with coffee, cacao, and annual crops.

Coral trees are used as shade trees (e.g. for coffee or cocoa crops), as living fence, windbreaks, and as a support plant for climbing crops, such as vanilla and black pepper. Leaves are used as fodder and the flowers provide bees with forage. Wood is too light and porous for most purposes, but it is used for small implements, surfboats, canoes and carving, and as fuel. The bark and roots yield useful dyes. The leaves make good mulch. Some species with showy flowers (e.g. E. caffra, E. variegata ) are grown as ornamentals in gardens and parks.

The genus Erythrina has more than 100 species, over half of them neotropical. Hybridization has resulted in a tremendous amount of ecological and morphological diversity, both within and between species.

Keywords:

Shade, live fence, windbreak, support plant, animal feed, bee forage, wood, dye, fuel, ornamental, Fabaceae.