Erythrina crista-galli cockspur coral tree

Erythrina crista-galli flowers. John Rawlings, 8 Jan 2005

Spectacular in late May and June, when clusters of bright red flowers emerge from its leafy crown. Flowering continues in flushes until October. Branches are picturesquely crooked, and can appear brutally pruned, with tufts of shoots sprouting from the ends. In fact, this effect results from the natural dieback of each year’s shoots, which curtails further extension of the branches. In spring, stout green shoots arise atop the thatch of old ones; it is from this tender growth – which comprises mostly pith – that new leaves, and then flowers, emerge. The leaflets on the triofoliate leaves are widest at the middle, in contrast to those of E. americana, which are broadest at the base.

Crista-galli, Latin for cock’s comb, refers to the flowers’ arrangement. (A midline bone extension in the human skull, behind the nose, bears the same name. The Latin word gallus – meaning both rooster and a Gaul – later gave rise to the coq gaulois, a national symbol of France.) The fierce spur on a rooster’s leg gives rise to the common name, cockspur, for the prickles on the leaves.

This coral tree is the most cold-tolerant in its genus. Still, the one on the north corner of the Tea House at Gamble Garden in Palo Alto – likely planted in the 1970s or earlier – suffered from the deep freeze of 1990, and has since been maintained pollarded, with its branch ends swelling into knobby clubs. This annual removal of unsightly dead shoots, combined with its profusion of blooms and striking placement in the garden, makes this the most magnificent specimen in the area. Other fine examples are at 690 Waverley Street, Palo Alto, at the intersection with Forest Avenue, and at 740 University Drive in Menlo Park, on the right.

The only example on campus, a small tree in the bed northwest of the large tree yucca in the center of the Arizona Garden, has sadly declined. Given that this species blooms at Commencement time, and in Stanford’s official color, further plantings on campus would be well warranted.

Erythrina crista-galli, Arizona Garden. John Rawlings, 8 Jan 2005

From: Howard E. McMinn & Evelyn Maino, An Illustrated Manual of Pacific Coast Trees, 1951

Name derivation: see above.