MELBOURNE STREET TREES 103 - ERYTHRINA

Erythrina crista-galli is a flowering tree in the family Fabaceae, native to Argentina, Uruguay, southern Brazil and Paraguay. It is widely planted as a street or garden tree in other countries, most notably in California (in the United States).

It is known by several common names within South America: ceibo, seíbo (Spanish), corticeira (Portuguese) and the more ambiguous bucaré, to name a few. In English it is often known as the Cockspur Coral Tree.

The ceibo is the national tree of Argentina, and its flower the national flower of Argentina and Uruguay. This species characteristically grows wild in gallery forest ecosystems along watercourses, as well as in swamps and wetlands. In urban settings, it is often planted in parks for its bright red flowers. The flowers are rich in nectar and are visited by insects, which usually have to crawl underneath the carina and thus pollinate the flowers. The tree's fruit is a legume, a dry pod a few centimetres in length derived from a single carpel and contains about 8-10 chestnut-brown bean-shaped seeds.

We are seeing more and more of these trees in Melbourne, so even in the suburban gardens one may see such a tree in bloom. The tree flowers in the summer, from October to April in their native South America (and in Australia), and from April to October in the northern hemisphere.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.