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Erythrina acanthocarpa (Tambookie Thorn) - An interesting small shrubby deciduous Coral Tree that only grow to 3 to 6 feet tall with thorny stems arising from a swollen woody basal caudex and holding leaves composed of 3 bluish-green inch long leaflets with sharp black hooked prickles on the leaf rachis. In the spring appear the unusual showy flowers on 6-inch-long spikes – the flowers have slightly recurved orange-red banner with greenish-yellow tips that enclose the other floral parts except the very tips of the stamens. After flowering appear the woody pods that are covered with short straight prickles.
Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil and water infrequently. Has proven tolerant to a fair amount of winter cold but also an easy plant to kill with too much water. It is an interesting and attractive plant for the succulent garden or in a large pot where the large base can be observed.
Erythrina acanthocarpa is native to grasslands in the Eastern Cape of South Africa from near Grahamstown, Cathart and Queenstown. The name for the genus comes from the Greek word 'erythros' meaning "red" in reference to the typically bright red flowers of many of the species. The specific epithet is derived from Greek words 'akanthos' meaning "thorn" or "thorny" and 'karpos' meaning "fruit" in reference to the spiny fruit pods. The area in the Eastern Cape of South Africa where this plant is common was once called Tambukiland and is the origin of the common name Tambookie Thorn (Tamboekiedoring in Afrikaans).
We first grew and listed this plant in our catalogs from 1992-1998 from seed supplied by our friend, the late Fred Meyer, who acquired seed from the collection at the UC Irvine Arboretum. We were able to sell about 75 plants during those years but after this we were not able to locate any more seed. We later tried to get seed directly from a farmer in South Africa who told us that it was quite limited because baboons were eating it all. Later plants grown were supplied to us by John Trager at the Huntington Botanic Garden and seed supplied by Christy Powell at the San Diego Zoo, but we have never had enough to sell more than a handful and sadly no longer list this desirable plant as available. There are very nice plants in the desert garden at the Huntington Botanic Garden and the pictures of it in bloom on this page were taken there.
The information displayed on this page about Erythrina acanthocarpa is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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