Erythrina ×sykesii
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
coral tree, flame tree
Family
Fabaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Conservation status
Not applicable
Habitat
Terrestrial.
Detailed description
Deciduous tree up to 12-(18)m high; trunks with stout prickles; twigs round, smooth, clothed in short hairs when young but becoming glabrous, armed with prickles; prickles stout-based, scattered, 5-10 mm long. Leaves densely clothed with short medifixed hairs when young, becoming +/- glabrous; leaflets broadly ovate to deltoid, +/- acuminate, obtuse to truncate at base, entire (7)-10-20 cm long; lateral leaflets somewhat smaller than terminal; stipules lanceolate, 5-10 mm long, caducous; stipels c. 1 mm long. Inflorescences axillary, clustered at tips of branches, clothed in brown medifixed hairs when young; flowers numerous, shortly pedicellate, subtended by caducous bracteoles. Calyx spathe-like, bilbiate, or irregularly shallowly toothed. Standard scarlet, c. 50-60 mm long, wings and keel c. 1/2 length of standard, orange to pale orange; filaments mauve. Pods not formed. (Webb et al 1988).
Similar taxa
Can be distinguished from E. crista-galli by the axillary inflorescences clothed in brown hairs, the keel roughly 1/2 the length of the standard, and the leaves broadly ovate to deltoid (hairy when young).
Flowering
August, September, October.
Flower colours
Orange, Red/Pink
Life cycle
Perennial. Cuttings and dropped branches take root easily. Seed has not been observed as this is a sterile hybrid (Likely parents are E. coralloides and E. lysistemon)
Year naturalised
1986
Origin
Australia (parents from N. America and Africa)
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
Etymology
erythrina: From the Greek erythros ‘red’, referring to the colour of the flowers
sykesii: Named after William Russell Sykes (1927-2018) an English born botanist who emigrated to New Zealand in the late 1960s and worked for the DSIR Botany Division and DSIR Land Resources. Sykes specialised in the taxonomy of cultivated plants, naturalised plants and made studies of the South Pacific Islands, especially the Kermadec and Cook Island groups.
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.