• Image of Erythrina herbacea|in situ Hempstead, TX|

    Photo by taken at in situ Hempstead, TX

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Erythrina herbacea

Coral Bean

This plant is not currently for sale. This is an archive page preserved for informational use.

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Item #: 8840

Zones: 7b to 9b, at least

Dormancy: Winter

Height: 48" tall

Culture: Sun to Part Sun

Origin: United States

Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)


If you need a good pea in a dry climate, then Erythrina herbacea is just what the plant doctor ordered...just don't take it orally. Calling home from NC west to Texas, Erythrina can be found in dry, desolate roadsides and fields. To survive these conditions, Erythrina herbacea makes a huge underground storage root, so plant it where you want it to stay. In late spring, the 3' tall green spikes of three-lobed leaves emerge upward. Soon after the leaves unfurl, the terminal 4' long floral spikes, adorned with bright red "fingers," strut their stuff...a hummingbird favorite. If your town is too small for traffic lights, hang the flowers upside down in each intersection...voila, redneck stop lights. Hot and dry and you've got the growing conditions figured out.