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Erythrina herbacea

Common name:	Cardinal Spear	Family:	Leguminosae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	200, 274
Synonyms:	Erythrina arborea (Small.)
Known Hazards:	The plant contains alkaloids that have powerful narcotic and purgative effects[200]. The seeds contain numerous toxic alkaloids, including erysodine and erysopine. They have an action similar to curare and have been used as a rat poison[274].
Range:	South-eastern N. America - North Carolina to Texas.
Habitat:	Sandy soils in hummocks, the coastal plain and pinelands[229].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Red-cardinal [B], Redcardinal [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	erythrina = colored red herbacea = herbaceous
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Fabales. Renamed to Fabaceae -- Pea family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Mexico

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1m. It is hardy to zone 8 and is frost tender. It is in flower from July to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. It can fix Nitrogen. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Flowers Leaves.

Flowers - cooked. An acceptable vegetable when boiled[183]. Some caution is advised, see the notes above on toxicity.
Young leaves - occasionally cooked and eaten[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antiemetic Diuretic Narcotic Purgative Tonic.

The plant is narcotic and purgative[200].
A cold infusion of the root has been used to treat bowel pain in women[257].
A decoction of the roots or berries has been used to treat nausea, constipation and blocked urination[257].
A decoction of the 'beans' or inner bark has been used as a body rub and steam for numb, painful limbs and joints[257].
A decoction of the leaves has been used as a general tonic[257].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a moderately fertile well-drained soil in a very sunny position[200]. Best if given the protection of an east, south or south-west facing wall[200].
Becoming a tree in the south of its range, this species is shrubby or even herbaceous towards the limits of its northerly range[229]. It is not very hardy outdoors in Britain though the rootstock can tolerate temperatures down to about -10° c provided the stem bases are thickly mulched with organic matter such as leaf litter or sawdust and covered with bracken[200]. Alternatively, the roots can be lifted in the autumn and stored in a cool frost-free place, replanting in the spring.
Plants take 3 - 4 years to flower from seed[200].
This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[200].

Propagation

Seed - pre-soak for 12 hours in warm water and sow spring in a greenhouse. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame[200]. Overwinter in a greenhouse and plant out in late spring or early summer.
Heeled cuttings of young growth in the spring in a frame[200]. Overwinter in a greenhouse and plant out in late spring or early summer.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[229] Elias. T. The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. 1980 ISBN 0442238622
A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Erythrina+herbacea
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