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HERNANDO CHAPTER |
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HERNANDO CHAPTER |
| PLANT PROFILE Coral Bean (Erythrina herbacea) By: Sharon LaPlante |
| Another popular name for this deciduous, multi-trunked, shrub is Cherokee
bean. It is in the Leguminosea family. In south Florida or protected areas that do
not freeze it can attain a tree like stature of 24 feet. However, in our area it
generally freezes to the ground each year. The leaves are deciduous, alternate and compound with three arrow-head shaped leaflets that are 1-3" long. The stems have spines that point downward. The 2 inch, red tubular, flowers appear in the spring before the leaves appear. The blooms are produced from the prior year's growth, therefore it is important to not prune away last year's growth in the spring. It may look like a bunch of twigs, but your patience will be rewarded in the spring with bursts of red flowers. The spring bloom coincides with the ruby-throated hummingbird's migration. It appears that these plants have adapted their blooming cycles to their pollinators migration cycle. The literature states that they bloom in the spring and fall, but I haven't seen fall blooming in our area. The red beans that are produced in the summer and fall are poisonous. Removal of the pods when they become dry and pop open is the best way to safeguard against children collecting them. They are generally found growing in coastal hammocks, inland hammocks and along road sides, but may well be found in open sandy woods and clearings. In the home landscape they can be grown in average soils with part-shade to full sun. They are easy to transplant. Some literature treats Erythrina arborea as a separate species found in south Florida; however most authors believe this to be merely a climatic adaptation. As was stated earlier it will become tree-like if not taken by a freeze. Erythrina is derived from 'erythros', which in Greek means red, and herbacea which means not woody. |
| References: Austin, Dan. Coastal Dune Plants. Gumbo Limbo Nature Center of South Palm Beach County, Inc. 1991 (illustration) Nelson, Gil. The Shrubs & Woody Vines of Florida. Pineapple Press: Sarasota, FL 1996 ISBN: 1561641103 (paperback); ISBN: 1561641065 (hardcover) Radford, Albert E., H. E. Ahles and C. R. Bell. Manual of Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. University of North Carolina: Chapel Hill, NC. 1964 SBN: 0807810878 (1968 edition) Scurlock, J. Paul. Native Trees and Shrubs of the Florida Keys. Laurel & Herbert, Inc.: Sugarloaf Shores, FL. 1996 ISBN: 0961915536 |
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