Coral trees
| Coral trees | ||||||||||||
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Common coral tree ( Erythrina crista-galli ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Erythrina | ||||||||||||
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The coral trees ( Erythrina ) are a genus of woody plants in the subfamily of the butterflies (Faboideae).
The botanical name (Greek: ερυθρος, erythros = red) refers to the red flowers in most members of the genus.
description
The plants are usually trees , rarely shrubs or half-shrubs whose underground rhizomes swollen or bulbous and sometimes succulent are. The sometimes succulent, swollen trunks are often reinforced with sickle-shaped or conical spines . The leaves are always divided into three parts. Both the leaves as total structures and the partial leaves bear stipules . The stipules of the leaves are partly persistent, partly sloping, those of the leaves are mostly fleshy or glandular.
The panicle-like , terminal or in leaf axils appearing inflorescences carry the flowers in groups of three over hairy, decrepit bracts . The flowers each have five sepals and five petals . The sepals are fused into a tube with a very variable shape. The flag of the petals is folded, sickle-shaped, elongated or rounded and when it opens it usually encloses the inner parts of the flower, the wings are sickle-shaped, the petals of the shuttle are fused or free. The ten stamens , which are sometimes partially fused with the flag, are in one or two groups. The ovary is stalked, densely hairy and usually elongated or spindle-shaped. A fertilization takes place (mainly) by birds . The legume , which is completely or partially woody and tears open at a seam when ripe , contains elliptical, smooth, red or brown seeds .
Systematics and distribution
The genus, which is quite large with around 108 to 120 species, is distributed worldwide in the tropics and subtropics . Since most species have impressive, red to orange-colored flowers, some can also be found outside of their natural range as ornamental plants. In Central Europe they are kept almost exclusively as potted plants (with warm overwintering) because of their sensitivity to cold . The succulent species are rarely seen in collections.
There are 5 sub-genera with a total of 26 sections.
Subgenera
- Erythrina subgen. Micropteryx (Walp.) FGBaker
- Erythrina subgen. Erythrina
- Erythrina subgen. Tripterolobus Barneby & Krukoff
- Erythrina subgen. Chirocalyx (Meisn.) Harv.
- Erythrina subgen. Erythraster Barneby & Krukoff
Types (selection)
- Erythrina acanthocarpa E. Mey. : a succulent shrub up to 2 m tall from the Eastern Cape of South Africa (subgenus Erythrina ).
- Erythrina baumii Harms : thesucculent subshrub that growsin Angola , Congo and Zambia forms stems that grow horizontally underground.
- Cape Coral Tree ( Erythrina caffra Thunb. ): A tree up to 12 m high from the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa (subgenus Erythrina ).
- Real coral tree ( Erythrina corallodendron ) L .: Tree in the tropics
- Erythrina crista-galli L .: the best known species, known as the “cockscomb tree” or “common coral tree”, is native to Argentina , Uruguay , Brazil and Paraguay (subgenus Micropteryx ).
- Erythrina decora Harms : asucculent tree with a strongly thickened trunk, nativeto Namibia .
- Erythrina edulis Triana : a tree up to 14 m high from the tropical highlands of South America ( Andes , subgenus Erythrina )
- Erythrina flabelliformis Kearney : asucculent tree widespreadin the southern USA and Mexico with a swollen base and up to 8 m in height (subgenus Erythrina ).
- Mexican coral shrub ( Erythrina herbacea L. ): a shrub with a height of about 1 m spread from the SE of the USA via Mexico to Central America .
- Erythrina humeana Spreng. : ashrub foundin Mozambique , Zimbabwe and South Africa with a height of about 1.5 m (subgenus Erythrina ).
- Erythrina latissima E. Mey. : a tree that grows in South Africa and Zimbabwe and is up to 8 m high.
- Erythrina lysistemon Hutch. : atree up to 12 m tall (subgenus Erythrina )widespreadin South Africa, Zimbabwe , Botswana and Angola .
- Erythrina mendesii Torre : Similar to Erythrina baumii , the species that grows in Zambia, Angola, Namibia and Botswana forms a succulent subshrub with trunks that grow horizontally underground.
- Erythrina mulungu Mart. : She is from Brazil.
- Wiliwili ( Erythrina sandwicensis O.Deg. ): A tree up to 15 m high, endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.
- Erythrina speciosa Andrews : a tree up to 4 m high, native to Brazil (sub-genus Erythrina ).
- Indian coral tree ( Erythrina variegata L. ): the flower color of the up to 20 m high Indian coral tree, which comes from India and Indonesia, varies from red to pure white (subgenus Erythraster ).
- Erythrina vogelii Hook.f. ; this species occurs in Africa
- Erythrina zeyheri Harvey : This succulent species with underground stems is native to Zimbabwe, Lesotho and South Africa (subgenus Erythrina ).
Individual evidence
- ^ Anne Bruneau: Phylogenetic and Biogeographical Patterns in Erythrina (Leguminosae: Phaseoleae) as Inferred from Morphological and Chloroplast DNA Characters . Systematic Botany 21 (4): 587-605, 1996
- ↑ a b c Walter Erhardt among others: The great pikeperch. Encyclopedia of Plant Names . Volume 2, pages 1399-1400. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2008. ISBN 978-3-8001-5406-7
literature
- E. Palmer & N. Pitman: Trees of southern Africa , Balkema, Cape Town, 1972
- BA Krukoff: Notes on Asiatic-Polynesian-Australian species of Erythrina . In: Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 53: 128-139, 1972
- BA Krukoff, RC Barney: Conspectus of species of the genus Erythrina , Lloydia 37: 332-459, 1974
- KC Palgrave: Trees of southern Africa ed. 2. Struik Publishers, Johannesburg, 1977
- BA Krukoff: Notes on the species of Erythrina , Allertonia 3 (1): 121-138, 1982
- E. Pooley: Trees of Natal, Zululand and Transkei , Natal Flora Publication Trust, Durban, 1993
- A. Bruneau: Phylogenetic and biogeographic patterns in Erythrina (Leguminosae): evidence from 18-26S nuclear rDNA ITS sequences, chloroplast DNA restriction site data, and morphological characters , Amer. J. Bot. 83 (6S): 142,1996
- A. Bruneau: Phylogenetic and biogeographical patterns in Erythrina (Leguminosae: Phaseoleae) as inferred from morphological and chloroplast DNA characters , Syst. Bot. 21 (4): 587-605, 1997
- A. Bruneau: Evolution and homology of bird pollination systems in Erythrina (Leguminosae: Phaseoleae) , American Journal of Botany 84: 54-71, 1997
