Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Erythrina velutina
caco, pepito colorado, bucare velludo, flame tree, coral tree, red bean tree
A striking large straight-trunked tree that loses its leaves during the dry season. About 12 m tall, usually armed with stout spines to 1.5 cm long, leafless at anthesis; Young stems densely tomentose with stellate hairs. The large flowers are blood red and cover the tree before the new leaves are produced. Young trees have spiny trunks.
On cinder slopes, lava flows, and rocky hillsides; beyond the natural range as an ornamental (Wiggins and Porter, 1971).
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Magnoliophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)
Order
Fabales
Family
Fabaceae
Genus
Erythrina
Species
velutina
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Erythrina splendida Diels
Taxon origin: Native
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: The native range of this species is Caribbean to S. Tropical America (POWO, 2023).
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- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2022) Plants of the world online POWO (2022): Plants of the world online. Published on the Internet; Https://powo.science.kew.org/