Chilicote
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Erythrina
Species:
E. flabelliformis
Binomial name
Erythrina flabelliformis
Kearney
Synonyms[2]

Erythrina purpusii Brandegee

Erythrina flabelliformis, common name chilicote or western coral bean, is a plant species native to central and northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It is known from Baja California as far south as Morelos and as far east as San Luis Potosí, as well as from Arizona and New Mexico.[3][4]

Erythrina flabelliformis is a shrub or small tree up to 3 m (10 feet) high. Stems are white and covered with a velvety pubescence when young, armed with curved prickles about 6 mm (0.25 inches) long. Leaves trifoliate, leaflets stiff and leathery, generally broader than long. Flowers are crowded in terminal racemes, bright scarlet, about 4 cm (1.6 inches) long. Fruit tapers toward both ends, covered with tiny but dense hairs. Seeds are oval, up to 15 mm (0.6 inches) across, scarlet with a white hilum.[5][6][7][8]

Dehisced seed pod with seeds

The seed walls are potentially lethal if consumed due to the alkaloids contained in them.[9]

References

  1. ^ Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI); IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group (2019). "Erythrina flabelliformis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T130206924A149010941. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T130206924A149010941.en. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  2. ^ = synonyms Tropicos
  3. ^ CONABIO. 2009. Catálogo taxonómico de especies de México. 1. In Capital Nat. México. CONABIO, Mexico City.
  4. ^ Sousa Sánchez, M., M. Ricker & H. M. Hernández Macías. 2003. An index for the tree species of the family Leguminosae in Mexico. Harvard Papers in Botany 7(2): 381–398.
  5. ^ Britton, N.L., & Kearney, Thomas Henry, Jr. 1894. An enumeration of the plants collected by Dr. Timothy E. Wilcox (U.S.A.) and others in southeastern Arizona during the years 1892-1894. Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences 14(2): 21–44.
  6. ^ Krukoff, B. A. & R. C. Barneby. 1974. Conspectus of species of the genus Erythrina. Lloydia 37(3): 332–459.
  7. ^ Shreve, F. & I. L. Wiggins. 1964. Vegetation and Flora of the Sonoran Desert, 2 vols. Stanford University Press, Stanford.
  8. ^ photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden
  9. ^ Elias, Thomas S.; Dykeman, Peter A. (2009) [1982]. Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods. New York: Sterling. p. 271. ISBN 978-1-4027-6715-9. OCLC 244766414.
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