Volume 4 > Part 3.3 > Year 2023 > Page 571 > Leguminosae-Papilionoideae > Erythrina

3. Erythrina crista-galli L.wfo-0000180641

Mant. Pl. 1: 99. 1767; Backer & Bakh.f., Fl. Java 1: 628. 1963; Krukoff, J. Arnold Arbor. 20(1). 228. 1939; Krukoff & Barneby, Lloydia 37(3): 342, t. 2. 1974.— Micropteryx crista-galli (L.) Walp., Linnaea 23: 740. 1850.— Corallodendron crista-galli (L.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 172. 1891.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Small tree 2–8 m tall, evergreen, trunk, branches and terminal branchlets with prickles; bark corky, deeply grooved, grey to brown. Stipules small, ca 1 by 0.5 mm, caducous. Leaves glabrous, minutely reticulately waxy below, coriaceous; petioles 5–14 cm long, frequently bearing 1–2 recurved prickles; rachis 2.5–3 cm long. Leaflets: terminal leaflet ovate, elliptic or lanceolate-elliptic, 4–13 by 2.5–7.7 cm, apex acute or acuminate, base rounded or cuneate, margin entire; lateral veins 7–9 pairs; lateral leaflets similar or slightly smaller than the terminal leaflet; petiolules 8–13 mm long; stipels glandular, tiny, rounded. Inflorescences terminal from branchlets, vertical, 10–40 cm long; flowers of lower nodes always from the axils of leaves, 3 flowers per node; bracts 2, linear-lanceolate, 3–5 mm long, caducous. Flowers 12–30, verticillate, usually with 2–3 flowers per fascicle; pedicels 3–3.5 cm long, glabrous; bracteoles 2, at the apex of pedicel, clasping calyx tube, linear-lanceolate, 3–5 mm long, caducous. Calyx broadly campanulate, shortly bilabiate at apex, 9–13 mm long; tube 5–7 mm long; lobes ca 7 by 12 mm, apex acute, only with one small appendage, ca 4 mm long. Corolla pink, red or crimson; standard obovate, 3.5–4 by 2.5–3 cm, strongly recurved, apex obtuse or emarginate, base cuneate, claw 3–5 mm long; wings white, obliquely obovate, 5–7 by 4–5 mm; keel pink, red or crimson, obliquely lanceolate, connate along ventral margin, 30–35 mm long, incurved, enclosing much of staminal tube, apex obtuse. Stamens 3.3–5.5 cm long, glabrescent. Ovary pubescent. Pods torulose, constricted between seeds, slightly curved, 10–30 by 1.3–1.6 cm, glabrous, dehiscent. Seeds 2–6, reniform, 1.2–1.6 cm long, blackish with brownish streaks.

Thailand : Cultivated.

Distribution : E Brazil, Central and South America.

Ecology : Grows well in moist soil in tropical conditions; up to 700 m alt. Flowering: March–June; fruiting: April–July.

Vernacular : Thong lang hong kong (ทองหลางฮ่องกง)(Bangkok); saran rom (สราญรมย์).

Uses: Ornamental.