Erythrina poeppigiana, Orange Coral tree

Erythrina poeppigiana, 20 Coral tree seeds

Erythrina poeppigiana is a large deciduous tree also referred by common names such as Mountain immortelle and Madre de Cacao. The plant synonyms include Evrythrina diarienensis, Evrythrina pisamo, Everythrina micropteryx, Evrythrina amasisa and Micropteryx poeppigiana. The plant is a species of Fabaceae family. Everthrina poeppigiana has its original habitat in the tropic specifically in the southern America like in Peru, Brazil, Bolivia and to northern Panama.

Evrythrina poeppigiana is a large tree with a spreading crown growing at a faster rate up to a height of 35 metres tall. It is sparsely branched and sometimes forming one main stem. The trunk of the tree has thorn like protuberances. The plant when young is free of branches up to a height of 10-20 metres and about 2 metres wide. The plants are always green in wet lowland areas but move towards leafless in some seasons when growing in drier highland areas.

Evrythrina poeppigiana has a variety of uses, for example, flowers can be eaten in soups or made into salads. The tree was traditionally planted as a living fence and at other times planted in other plantations like coffee, cacao and pepper to act as a shade. The tree is remarkable for its presents of nitrogen in leaves which makes it an excellent species to the production of mulch and green manure. It is also useful for making low-value items such as toothpicks, pencils, crates and can also be raw material for hardboards. The wood can be as well used as firewood.