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Erythrina crista-galli |
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| Common name |
coral bean |
| Family |
fabaceae |
| Life cycle |
shrub/tree (Z9-11)   |
| Flowers |
red (late spring-summer) |
| Size |
to 20' |
| Light |
sun |
| Cultural notes |
drought tolerant |
From seed  |
Nick seed, germinate at room temperature
detailed seed-starting info below
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Some taxonomical contradictions here: I purchased this as E. x bidwillii, which my taxonomy sources consider to be a species, and the nursery where we bought ours specimen sold it as a native plant – yet several other online sources describe how it is a hybrid between E. crista-galli and E. herbacea, concocted in Australia (so hardly native to Texas). Based on the comment left on this page by Chris (see below), I'm now considering that our specimen is in fact E. crista-galli, which also fits better with its much larger stature. In any case, it produces eye-popping red pea flowers once it gets going in summer. The timing of flowering depends on how much the plant was set back by winter cold – in its first full year in our garden, which featured a harsh freeze in January, blooming didn't start till August, but in the years that followed, with milder winters, it bloomed by the middle of spring. Nasty thorns on this one, so we grow it well away from the front of the border. By the end of its second year in our garden, it grew to about 8 foot – and quite a bit higher in the following year. Then came the megafreeze of 2021, which took out all top growth, and this time it took much longer for growth to return – but eventually, well into spring, it did. By that time, the plant had developed a trunk befitting a small tree. Cutting down the dead growth, I was surprised at how easily the loppers passed through the wood, and how light the dead woody remains were. The wood quality clearly wasn't like that of a tree!
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| | Seedpods developing in mid-October |
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| | New growth from base after 2018 freeze, mid-March |
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| | New growth after 2021 freeze, late April |
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| | Newly planted nursery specimen (October 2017) |
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| | Three years later (July 2020), grown into a small tree (background, against fence) |
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In our garden, this plant grows in the following area: back fence border About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Erythrina crista-galli
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| Chris Nichols Austin, tx | May 31, 2021 | Erythrina crista-galli not x bidwillii which is a sterile hybrid. Yours is producing seeds. So the images may just be swapped? I grow the hybrid and both parents btw.
Thanks Chris - looks like you're right, so I've updated the page accordingly. |
- Seed from '20 garden. File-nicked. Baggy 70F (100%G, 15-24d)
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