The broad-leaved coral tree (''Erythrina latissima'') is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

from southern Africa growing 5 to 8 m tall. It is a member of the

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

and occurs naturally in the Afrotemperate mist-belt of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...

to the uplands of

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

and adjacent

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

. It is often cultivated as a tree for gardens and parks. In Zimbabwe its range overlaps with the similar '' Erythrina abyssinica''. It has pubescent branchlets and fissured, corky bark. The foliage is soft and initially woolly in texture, with some prickles and prominently raised venation below. Their scarlet flowers with red, densely velvety calyxes may appear from winter to early summer, usually before new foliage is produced. The fruit is a cylindrical articulated pod, bearing orange to red seeds with a black spot.

Gallery

File:Erythrina latissima, bloeiwyse, a, Pretoria.jpg, Flowers and velvety red calyxes File:Erythrina latissima, sade, Tuks.jpg, File:Erythrina latissima, blaarondersy, a, Uniegeboutuine.jpg,

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5396417 latissima Trees of South Africa Trees of Africa Ornamental trees