The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Erythrina velutina
Erythrina velutina, the red bean tree or mulungu, is a leguminous tree of seasonally dry tropical regions of the Americas, growing to about 10 m with short spines on the stem. It is grown mainly as a shade or ornamental tree in warm, frost-free climates, with bright, scarlet-type flowers and seed pods.
Erythrina velutina is a species of leguminous tree. It is indigenous to Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and Hispaniola and has been introduced to much of the Caribbean, Uganda, and Sri Lanka. It also occurs on the Galápagos Islands, but whether it is indigenous or introduced there is unclear. In Brazil, it occurs on plains and near rivers in the arid parts of the northeast of the country and is commonly known as "mulungu". Erythrina velutina grows as a large tree to around 10 m (30 ft) high and has short spines on the stem. It is perennial.
Its seeds are similar to beans, but are red and toxic. The seeds should not be ingested by the risk of death.
In northeastern Brazil, the bark of E. velutina is used in traditional medicine against insomnia, convulsions, nervous coughs, and nervous excitation. Harvesting of bark for medicinal purposes poses a threat to the survival of the species; for this reason, several scientific studies of the medicinal effects of tree have used extract from the leaves instead. In laboratory mice and rats, E. velutina extract prolongs sleep, inhibits motorial activity, and inhibits memory.
Erythrina · Thorny Coraltree · American Coral Tree · Erythrina ankaranensis · Erythrina atitlanensis · Machete · Erythrina burana · Erythrina burttii · Erythrina chiapasana · Coral erythrina · Flame coral tree · Cockspur Coral Tree
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Erythrina velutina by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
