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Erythrina caffra

Erythrina caffra

Carl Peter Thunberg 1800

Family: Fabaceae
Order: Fabales
Class: Magnoliopsida
Phylum / Division: Magnoliophyta
Kingdom: Plantae

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Other common names: African Coral Tree.

Synonyms: Erythrina constantiana.





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Description


Erythrina afra, the coast coral tree or African coral tree (historically also the kaffir tree), is a tree native to southeastern Africa, which is often cultivated and has introduced populations in California and India. All the 17 species of coral tree in the genus Erythrina are collectively considered the official tree of Los Angeles, California in the United States.

 Erythrina afra is a medium to large deciduous tree. It grows in coastal bushes and riverine forests along the southeastern coast of South Africa and up into Zululand.

Leaves: The compound leaves are made up of three leaflets. Each leaflet is broadly ovate to elliptical. The leaflets do not have prickles and are hairless.

Flowers: The flowers are made up of a main petal and four small petals. The main petal curves back to expose the stamens. The flower colour is warm red to scarlet. This is one of the main differences between Erythrina affra and Erythrina lysistemon. The flowers form stalked axillary racemes up to 100mm long.

Trunk: The bark on the plant or tree is relatively smooth with intermittent thorns, and the thorns tend to be sharper on younger branches.

Taxonomy: The original etymology of the species name caffra is related to kaffir, originally an Arabic term for unbeliever, but later an ethnic slur towards black people in parts of Africa. At the July 2024 International Botanical Congress, a vote was held with the result that "caffra" related names will be emended to afra related ones at the end of July 2024.

Source: Wikipedia, article Erythrina caffra. Content adapted from Wikipedia, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Accessed on 18/07/2026.





Geographic distribution


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Species photographs

Count: 1

Foto
Photography ID: 567977
  Adult

Mabula
Limpopo
South Africa
08/29/2015
Luis Cesar Tejo


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Species records

Count: 1



Page 1 of 1
Record IDDateExact timeCountryProvince / departmentPlaceFilmedPhotographedRecorded vocalObservedHeardWounded or deadNumber of individualsUser or BibliographyDetail
196029529/08/2015South AfricaLimpopoMabula Game Lodge, MabulaLuis Cesar Tejo
Page 1 of 1

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Recommended citation
Please use the following reference when citing this species account.
EcoRegistros. 2026. Erythrina caffra – Species account. Accessed from www.ecoregistros.org on 16/09/2026.