Plant of the Month: Coralbean

Presented by Keelen Fisher
February 8, 2021

Botanical name: Erythrina herbacea
Common names: Coralbean, Cherokee Bean, Red Cardinal
Family: Fabaceae (Pea)

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[Keelen] Hey guys! This is Keelen Fisher here. We’re going to go over the Plant of the Month for February, which is going to be the Coralbean plant, or in the scientific name Erythrina herbacea.

So, for its characteristics and details, the Coralbean or, in other words, Cherokee Bean and Red Cardinal, is a plant that belongs to the pea family. It’s a low, glossy-leaved and thorny shrub with many annual stems arising from the woody lower stem and perennial roots. The leaflets, they are long-petioled that are distinctly arrowhead-shaped.

Now, in continuation, after the Coralbean’s leaves fall off in the winter, upright spikes of showy, tubular flowers adorn the bare branches. The scarlet flower can grow about 12 inches long in spike-like clusters right on the upper portion of the stem. In addition, the plant’s leaves’ arrangement is alternate, with their bloom color being red, especially from March to November. And the leaves are three to five inches long and about three and a half to four inches wide, and they fall off in the winter and arise in the spring.

Now, for growing conditions and distribution, this plant prefers to be in dry sandy or clay-like soil in the sun or in an area is partly shaded. It is tolerant to the cold and requires medium water use. A couple tips: Trim the dead stem tips after new growth when they emerge in the spring. Also, the seeds are highly intoxic, or toxic, if ingested, so do be careful. When it comes to distribution, you’ll mainly see these plants in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas.

Propagation and benefits. The propagation material is seeds, and you can collect these seeds in the late summer to the early fall. When collected, fumigate them and store them in containers at room temperature. These plants and their seeds are try hummingbirds and can be used as nectar. These plants, however, can absorb toxic substances such as herbicides, pesticides, and pollutants from the water, air, and the soil, making them extremely toxic to humans.

For more references, resources, and information, please follow the links below. Thank you.

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