Botanical name

Erythrina zeyheri

Other names

Ploegbreker (Afrikaans); prickly cardinal

Family

Papilionoideae

Dimensions

The visible plant parts above ground may die away annually in winter; a suffrutex (or tree with an underground trunk)

Description of stem

Large underground woody rootstock from which new shoots and flowers emerge annually

Description of leaves

Trifoliate with spikes or prickles on some leaf surfaces and petioles

Description of flowers

Flowerhead a triangular terminal raceme with bright red pendulous, tubular individual flowers

Description of seed/fruit

A cylindrical pod with about five bright red hard seeds

Description of roots

Large tuberous rootstock

Variation

 

Propagation and cultivation

Transplants easily

Tolerances

 

Uses

 

Ecological rarity

Common

Pests and diseases

 

Other

 

Location

Grassland, clay soil, often in wet vlei areas

Distribution (SA provinces)

Mpumalanga; Northwest; KwaZulu-Natal; Free State

Country

South Africa