Erythrina americana naked coral tree

Erythrina coralloides ‘Bicolor’ in the Oregon Courtyard of the Outer Quad. Sairus Patel, 28 May 2020

Dramatic, cone-shaped inflorescences – fire-engine red, as the genus name Erythrina (from the Greek erythros, red) suggests – thrust upward from branch tips in late May, before the leaves have emerged. The elongated individual flowers, spiraling around a central axis, are magnets for Anna’s hummingbirds. The trunks have a mustardy-orange cast, and curved prickles emerge not only from the branches but also along the stalks of the trifoliate leaves. A vigorous specimen with multiple thick trunks grows on the traffic island on Lagunita Drive just west of Braun Music Center. Another, more spindly, stands south of the Post Office, near O’Connor Lane.

Cultivar ‘Bicolor’ has red flower clusters, white flower clusters, and a mix on the same tree. A specimen in the Oregon Courtyard of the Outer Quad (Language Corner) was planted in 2005. Others planted at the same time, at the Humanities Center (Kingscote Gardens side) and the old Grounds Nursery, did not survive.