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Erythrina crista-galli (view source)
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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Cockspur coral tree
| image = Erythrina_crista-galli2.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Fabales]]
| familia = [[Fabaceae]]
| subfamilia = [[Faboideae]]
| tribus = [[Phaseoleae]]
| genus = ''[[Erythrina]]''
| species = '''''E. crista-galli'''''
| binomial = ''Erythrina crista-galli''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}
[[Image:Erythrina crista-galli 2-3.jpg|thumb|230px|right|A ''ceibo'' tree in an urban park in [[Rosario]], [[Argentina]].]]
'''''Erythrina crista-galli''''' is a flowering tree in the family [[Fabaceae]], native to [[Argentina]], [[Uruguay]], [[Brazil]] and [[Paraguay]]. It is widely planted as a street or garden tree in other countries, most notably in [[California]] in the ([[United States]]). It is known by several common names within South America: ''ceibo'', ''seíbo'' and ''bucaré'', to name a few. In English it is often known as the '''Cockspur coral tree.'''
The tree's flower is the national flower of [[Argentina]] and [[Uruguay]]. It is also the official city tree of [[Los Angeles, California]] (where it is referred to simply as "the coral tree").
''Erythrina crista-galli'' is a small tree, the girth of its trunk measuring 50 cm. Normally it grows 5–8 meters tall, although some, such as the ''ceibos'' in the Argentine provinces of [[Salta Province|Salta]], [[Jujuy Province|Jujuy]] and [[Tucumán Province|Tucumán]], can grow up to 10 m.
The species characteristically grows wild in gallery-forest ecosystems along water courses, as well as in swamps and wetlands. In urban settings, it's often planted in parks for its bright red flowers.
The [[root]] is a [[taproot]] with [[root nodule|nodules]] produced by [[nitrogen fixation|nitrogen fixing]] bacteria. The bacteria lives in [[symbiosis]] with the tree, facilitating the tree's absorption of nitrogen in return for organic substances which the bacteria need. The tree's trunk is woody with irregular, spiny branches. These branches form a layer without definite form and die after flowering.
The tree's flower in the summer (from October to April in their native South America and from April to October in the northern hemisphere)is red [[flower]], arranged in [[inflorescence]]s of the [[raceme]] type, is pentameric, complete, and of bilateral symmetry. Its [[sepal | calyx]] is gamosepalous, like a little red thimble. The corolla, similar to that of ''[[Phaseolus vulgaris]]'', is butterfly-shaped; however, the largest petal, called the ''standard'', is arranged in the lower part. Two of the petals, called ''wings'', are so small that they are practically hidden within the calyx. The remaining two petals partially weld together on occasion and form the flower's keel or ''carina''; this protects its reproductive organs. The [[androecium]] consists of ten [[stamen]]s, one free and nine united by their filaments (gynostemial androecium). The unicarpela gynoecium is welded between the stamens like a knife in its sheath.
The tree's fruit is monocarpic and dry, of the [[legume]] type, and no more than a few centimeters in length. The chestnut brown seeds are cylindrical in form and are arranged sparsely throughout the seedpod's interior. The seed germ contains hypogeous cotyledons; the seeds stay underground upon germination.
==Synonyms==
* ''Corallodendron crista-galli'' (L.) Kuntze
* ''Erythrina crista-galli'' L. Var. hasskarlii Backer
* ''Erythrina crista-galli'' L. Var. leucochlora A. Lombardo
* ''Erythrina fasciculata'' Benth.,
* ''Erythrina laurifolia'' Jacq.
* ''Erythrina pulcherrima'' Tod.,
* ''Erythrina speciosa'' Tod.,
* ''Micropteryx crista-galli'' Walp.
* ''Micropteryx fasciculata'' Walp.
* ''Micropteryx laurifolia'' Walp.
==External links==
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=te53VV5u8YMC&pg=RA1-PA124&lpg=RA1-PA124&dq=erythrina+alkaloids&source=web&ots=e5SBqn4GS7&sig=JdEQoIKcYwAM7N_cTUtCQNhl6Hc John Stephen Glasby, Dictionary of Plants Containing Secondary Metabolites, Published by CRC Press]
*[http://www.alpine-plants-jp.com/himitunohanazono/amerikadeigo_himitu_1.htm Images of Legume,] [http://www.alpine-plants-jp.com/himitunohanazono/amerikadeigo_himitu_2.htm Seeds] - Flavon's Wild herb and Alpine plants
==References==
{{commons|Erythrina crista-galli}}
*''This article draws heavily on the [[:es:Erythrina crista galli|corresponding article]] in the [[:es:Portada|Spanish-language Wikipedia]].''
*[http://www.ildis.org/LegumeWeb/6.00/taxa/1723.shtml International Legume Database & Information Service: ''Erythrina crista-galli'']
* {{cite book | author=Pink, A. | url=http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11892|title=Gardening for the Million| year=2004 | publisher=[[Project Gutenberg|Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation]]}}
*{{es icon}} [http://www.medioambiente.gov.ar/calendario/dia_ceibo/default.htm Día de la Flor Nacional] - "National Flower Day", in Argentina's Ministry of Health and Environment website (scientific description, pictures).
[[Category:Erythrina]]
[[Category:National symbols of Argentina]]
[[Category:Trees of Argentina]]
[[Category:Trees of Argentina]]
[[Category:Trees of Brazil]]
[[Category:Trees of Paraguay]]
[[Category:Trees of Uruguay]]
| color = lightgreen
| name = Cockspur coral tree
| image = Erythrina_crista-galli2.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Fabales]]
| familia = [[Fabaceae]]
| subfamilia = [[Faboideae]]
| tribus = [[Phaseoleae]]
| genus = ''[[Erythrina]]''
| species = '''''E. crista-galli'''''
| binomial = ''Erythrina crista-galli''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}
[[Image:Erythrina crista-galli 2-3.jpg|thumb|230px|right|A ''ceibo'' tree in an urban park in [[Rosario]], [[Argentina]].]]
'''''Erythrina crista-galli''''' is a flowering tree in the family [[Fabaceae]], native to [[Argentina]], [[Uruguay]], [[Brazil]] and [[Paraguay]]. It is widely planted as a street or garden tree in other countries, most notably in [[California]] in the ([[United States]]). It is known by several common names within South America: ''ceibo'', ''seíbo'' and ''bucaré'', to name a few. In English it is often known as the '''Cockspur coral tree.'''
The tree's flower is the national flower of [[Argentina]] and [[Uruguay]]. It is also the official city tree of [[Los Angeles, California]] (where it is referred to simply as "the coral tree").
''Erythrina crista-galli'' is a small tree, the girth of its trunk measuring 50 cm. Normally it grows 5–8 meters tall, although some, such as the ''ceibos'' in the Argentine provinces of [[Salta Province|Salta]], [[Jujuy Province|Jujuy]] and [[Tucumán Province|Tucumán]], can grow up to 10 m.
The species characteristically grows wild in gallery-forest ecosystems along water courses, as well as in swamps and wetlands. In urban settings, it's often planted in parks for its bright red flowers.
The [[root]] is a [[taproot]] with [[root nodule|nodules]] produced by [[nitrogen fixation|nitrogen fixing]] bacteria. The bacteria lives in [[symbiosis]] with the tree, facilitating the tree's absorption of nitrogen in return for organic substances which the bacteria need. The tree's trunk is woody with irregular, spiny branches. These branches form a layer without definite form and die after flowering.
The tree's flower in the summer (from October to April in their native South America and from April to October in the northern hemisphere)is red [[flower]], arranged in [[inflorescence]]s of the [[raceme]] type, is pentameric, complete, and of bilateral symmetry. Its [[sepal | calyx]] is gamosepalous, like a little red thimble. The corolla, similar to that of ''[[Phaseolus vulgaris]]'', is butterfly-shaped; however, the largest petal, called the ''standard'', is arranged in the lower part. Two of the petals, called ''wings'', are so small that they are practically hidden within the calyx. The remaining two petals partially weld together on occasion and form the flower's keel or ''carina''; this protects its reproductive organs. The [[androecium]] consists of ten [[stamen]]s, one free and nine united by their filaments (gynostemial androecium). The unicarpela gynoecium is welded between the stamens like a knife in its sheath.
The tree's fruit is monocarpic and dry, of the [[legume]] type, and no more than a few centimeters in length. The chestnut brown seeds are cylindrical in form and are arranged sparsely throughout the seedpod's interior. The seed germ contains hypogeous cotyledons; the seeds stay underground upon germination.
==Synonyms==
* ''Corallodendron crista-galli'' (L.) Kuntze
* ''Erythrina crista-galli'' L. Var. hasskarlii Backer
* ''Erythrina crista-galli'' L. Var. leucochlora A. Lombardo
* ''Erythrina fasciculata'' Benth.,
* ''Erythrina laurifolia'' Jacq.
* ''Erythrina pulcherrima'' Tod.,
* ''Erythrina speciosa'' Tod.,
* ''Micropteryx crista-galli'' Walp.
* ''Micropteryx fasciculata'' Walp.
* ''Micropteryx laurifolia'' Walp.
==External links==
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=te53VV5u8YMC&pg=RA1-PA124&lpg=RA1-PA124&dq=erythrina+alkaloids&source=web&ots=e5SBqn4GS7&sig=JdEQoIKcYwAM7N_cTUtCQNhl6Hc John Stephen Glasby, Dictionary of Plants Containing Secondary Metabolites, Published by CRC Press]
*[http://www.alpine-plants-jp.com/himitunohanazono/amerikadeigo_himitu_1.htm Images of Legume,] [http://www.alpine-plants-jp.com/himitunohanazono/amerikadeigo_himitu_2.htm Seeds] - Flavon's Wild herb and Alpine plants
==References==
{{commons|Erythrina crista-galli}}
*''This article draws heavily on the [[:es:Erythrina crista galli|corresponding article]] in the [[:es:Portada|Spanish-language Wikipedia]].''
*[http://www.ildis.org/LegumeWeb/6.00/taxa/1723.shtml International Legume Database & Information Service: ''Erythrina crista-galli'']
* {{cite book | author=Pink, A. | url=http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11892|title=Gardening for the Million| year=2004 | publisher=[[Project Gutenberg|Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation]]}}
*{{es icon}} [http://www.medioambiente.gov.ar/calendario/dia_ceibo/default.htm Día de la Flor Nacional] - "National Flower Day", in Argentina's Ministry of Health and Environment website (scientific description, pictures).
[[Category:Erythrina]]
[[Category:National symbols of Argentina]]
[[Category:Trees of Argentina]]
[[Category:Trees of Argentina]]
[[Category:Trees of Brazil]]
[[Category:Trees of Paraguay]]
[[Category:Trees of Uruguay]]