Erythrina sigmoidea Hua, Fabaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 6 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Erythrina dybowskii Hua; Erythrina eriotricha Harms; Erythrina lanata Taub. ex Gilg; Erythrina sudanica Baker f.

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Tree 3-6 m, or 10-20 m; stem armed with stout recurved prickles; bark brownish yellow or cream, thick and corky; branches grey-green, velvety pubescent" (African Flowering Plants Database).

"A small savannah tree, 10-20 ft. high, stems armed with stout recurved prickles; flowers red, in racemes nearly as long as the leaves.  Leaves, petioles and branchlets, densely tomentose; leaflets usually broader than long, 8-13 cm long, 9-15 cm broad, broadly cuneate at base, rounded, emarginate or mucronate at apex, sometimes with prickles on nerves above; petioles about 17 cm long with a few prickles; flowers 2-3 cm long, standard narrow and curved like an 8; calyx with 5 equal lobes, about 1 cm long; fruits moniliform, 3-4-segmented"  (Aluka; Hutchinson et al., 1954; p. 562).

Habitat/ecology:  A species of the African savanna (Aluka).  "Open forest on temporarily flooded sand; forest patch in sandy-clayey soil on hardpan; savanna; gravelly soils along streams; to 1080-1780 m altitude"  (African Flowering Plants Database).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Senegal to N. Nigeria, and into E. Cameroun, Chad and Central African Republic"  (Aluka).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1987) (voucher ID: BISH 599350) Taxon name on voucher: Erythrina sigmoidea Hua
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced cultivated	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2011) Waimea Arboretum & Botanical Garden

Additional information:
Additional online information about Erythrina sigmoidea is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Erythrina sigmoidea as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Erythrina sigmoidea may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 1987. Voucher specimen #BISH599350(Flynn, T. 2096).

Hutchinson, J./Dalziel, M. D./Keay, R. W. J. 1954. Flora of West Tropical Africa, second edition. Crown Agents, London.

Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2011. Annotated Checklist of Cultivated Plants of Hawai‘i (online searchable database).