Family: FABACEAE
Genus: Erythrina
Species: lanata
Species Author: Rose
Subspecies: occidentalis
Subspecies Author: (Standl.) Krukoff & Barneby
Synonyms: Erythrina occidentalis Standl.
Shrub or small tree. Leaves trifoliate, each leaflet broadly ovate or ovate-rhomboid, without marginal dentations. The terminal leaflet varies in size from 10-21cm long by 8-17cm wide. Leaf petioles 8-15cm long with stipules at the base of the leaflets. Flowers held in racemes 3-12cm long. The rachis is densely pubescent. The calyx is 1.5-2cm long, dark red in color. The standard (prominent central petal) is 5.5 to 7.25 cm long by 12-20 mm wide. As with the calyx, it is densely pubescent. The keel and wings (remaining petals) are enclosed within the calyx. The petals are brick red. The fruit (legume) is 5-15cm long with a beak at one end of the fruit. Distinct constrictions occur between each seed in the pod. The number of seeds per fruit ranges from 1-6 seeds
Backer, C. A. and Bakhuizen Van Den Brink, R. C. (1963) Flora of Java. Volume One. N. V. P. Noordhoff, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Mexico (Central): Michoacán, Mexico, Guerrero, Oaxaca, occurring from sea level to 1540m in seasonally deciduous forests. Cultivated and naturalized in Java and Indonesia. Cultivated in Hawaii.
Krukoff, B. A. and Barneby, R. C. (1974) Conspectus of species of the genus Erythrina. Lloydia. 37 (3): 332-464
Staples, G. and Herbst, D. R. (2005) A tropical garden flora: plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press Honolulu, Hawaii.
A reasonably substantial scientific literature has amassed addressing the biology of the genus Erythrina, particularly the systematics and floral biology of the species. Papers pertaining to E. lanata are also peppered through the literature. Many relate to the reproductive biology of this species, for example; Ma. Del Coro and Ornelas (1990), Bullock and Solis-Magallanes (1990), Bruneau (1997), Neill (1987) and Bullock (1985).
Bruneau, A. (1997) Evolution and homology of bird pollination syndromes in Erythrina (Leguminosae). American Journal of Botany, 84, No. 1, pp. 54-71.
Bullock, S. H. (1985) Breeding systems in the flora of a tropical deciduous forest in Mexico. Biotropica, 17, No. 4, pp. 287-301.
Ma. Del Coro, A., Ornelas, J. F. (1990) Hummingbirds and their floral resources in a tropical dry forest in Mexico. Biotropica, 22, No. 2, pp. 172-180.
Neill, D. A. (1987) Trapliners in the trees: hummingbird pollination of Erythrina Sect. Erythrina (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 74, No. 1, pp. 27-41
Stephen H. Bullock, J. Arturo Solis-Magallanes (1990) Phenology of canopy trees of a tropical deciduous forest in Mexico. Biotropica, 22, No. 1, pp. 22-35.
We currently have 1 herbarium specimens for Erythrina lanata subsp. occidentalis in our collection. Click on any specimen below to view the herbarium sheet data.
- 066457 - collected by Tim Flynn in 1994
