Erythrina latissima; Broad-leaved Coral Tree
; Breeblaarkoraalboom
(Afrik); umGcwabagcwaba, siPhama (Siswati); Mphapha (North Sotho); Muvhale
(Venda); umNqwane( Xhosa); umGqwabagqwaba, umQongqazi (Zulu)
Article by Geoff Nichols
This deciduous rounded crowned tree of the rocky
north west facing hillsides of the eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga,
Limpopo provinces, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe is a feature of the grasslands
that just edge onto the escarpments that drop down into the Lowveld areas
of Southern Africa.
The large broad rough textured tri-foliate leaves make a very bold statement
in the veld but in a garden this is even more noticeable due to the fact
that the tree when planted up close to you in a smaller scale area than the
open expanses of Africa seems just that much larger. This species tends to
flower a little later than its cousins and I have seen flowers in July here
on the coast but as you move inland the flowers will still be on the tree
in late August or September.
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The flowers are bright red and it is at this time against the brown colour
of the veld grasses that this tree comes into its own. The flowers are also
more robust and chunky in size and texture. Even as a young tree the trunk
is corky and thick allowing this species to survive the winter fires that
sweep across the grassland slopes where it makes it home.
As a garden plant you need to get a young seedling and place it in a sunny
well drained spot where it can be allowed to grow to its full size without
being cramped by other trees or buildings. This tree will grow from truncheons
but I really would not urge gardeners to go out and remove large branches
off wild trees simply because if this pruning is not done with a bit of thought
you can spoil the shape of a wild tree. But this is my personal opinion and
I am sure people removing truncheons will take the shape of the original tree
into consideration.
Seed is produced in large round segmented pods that again stand out when
they are ripe. The seeds are bright red and about 10mm in size roughly oval
in shape. The seed will germinate easily in about 10 days if sown in a tray
of normal seedling mix that is kept in a warm sunny spot. I always nick the
hard seed coat to speed up the germination process. However if you live in
a frost area the seedlings need to be kept sheltered for the first year and
then the plant is able to withstand frost like its parent after that.
Remember this is not an instant tree it takes at least 20 years for a seedling
to begin looking like a tree and it will also take that time for the tree
to produce its first flowers. This is one of the reasons that gardeners prefer
to take truncheons for their gardens so that they can see flowers in a shorter
time. Sunbirds, Vervet Monkeys if this tree is growing within striking distance
of a forest or valley bushveld and many insects visit the flowers to sip the
nectar and feed on the pollen.
