Looking for ID on Legume

[JoeR]

A year and a half ago, one of my botany professors gave me a large brown legume pod with red, pinto bean sized seeds inside to keep. I planted them and now have two plants, one in a terrarium and this one outside in a pot. They have not grown very fast at all, but that might be because they are underpotted now. At first I thought the seeds were some sort of tamarind but they are not like any I have seen.

I dont have any idea what it is, and have no pictures of the red beans or seed case. It could be a native plant or just as likely an exotic. If anyone has any guesses for what it might be I would appreciate it. May have to wait until I see flowers.

 

[Dav4]

My guess is eastern redbud- Cercis canadensis, based purely on leaf shape

 

[cbroad]

The leaves remind me of Chinese Tallow, but I don't think they the legume seed pods you mention.

 

[JoeR]

My guess is eastern redbud- Cercis canadensis, based purely on leaf shape

The leaves are trifoliate which rules out C. canadensis. It may not even be a tree species

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Those leaves remind me of a South African flowering tree, Boer Bean, Shotia brachypetala, check link see if I am close.

Schotia brachypetala - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

If it is, our member @Dorian Fourie has one he has been working on for many years.

If not maybe Dorian has an idea what it might be.

 

[JoeR]

Those leaves remind me of a South African flowering tree, Boer Bean, Shotia brachypetala, check link see if I am close.

Schotia brachypetala - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

If it is, our member @Dorian Fourie has one he has been working on for many years.

If not maybe Dorian has an idea what it might be.

Thanks Leo, those are cool trees. I checked the leaves, they don't quite match it looks like.

Yesterday I found something that may be an accurate identification, I probably won't know for sure until it flowers. I would rather it have been a tree but these are nice looking plants in any case.

 

[Michael P]

Erythrina was my first impression, before I saw your screenshot.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Erythrina it is!!!!!

If you protect it from frost, it is a perennial shrub. It is a die back to the ground shrub. If I remember right, they do not have much ramification, so the number of branches will be fairly sparse. But you might be able to make a bonsai out of it. It needs full sun.

 

[JoeR]

Erythrina it is!!!!!

If you protect it from frost, it is a perennial shrub. It is a die back to the ground shrub. If I remember right, they do not have much ramification, so the number of branches will be fairly sparse. But you might be able to make a bonsai out of it. It needs full sun.

They don't have much ramification it seems. The internodes are very close together, however the petioles are quite long. The swollen base is also nice, somewhat tree like. So some good qualities and some bad. There are a couple pictures online of them as "bonsai"

I am confused about where its origin. It says that its a tropical shrub, but perennial die back plant here. The website listed it as an NC native, though, so I'll have to read some more about that.

They fold their leaves up, not down, when it is hot and/or dry

 

[JoeR]

they do respond well to pruning, so while they don't naturally ramify much I believe it isn't too much of a problem to make them. The one in my terrarium is continually cutback

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I read the Wikipedia article, and the write ups for a number of species. There are 130 species, and several have similar leaves to E. herbacea. Do you have a reason to believe it is the NC native species? Some of the more tropical species do look very bonsa-able.

Erythrina - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Heck I really don't know anything about them as bonsai. I have seeds of E. coralloides or E. flabelliformis, or which ever species is native to San Antonio area of Texas, along the Guadalupe River. I picked them during a hike, and they have been sitting in a vial for quite a few years now. Doubtful they are still viable. But reading through the Wikipedia pages there are several species with very similar leaves. But I do think you have the genus right. If your professor was the sort to collect NC natives, then you probably have E. herbacea.

 

[Dorian Fourie]

A year and a half ago, one of my botany professors gave me a large brown legume pod with red, pinto bean sized seeds inside to keep. I planted them and now have two plants, one in a terrarium and this one outside in a pot. They have not grown very fast at all, but that might be because they are underpotted now. At first I thought the seeds were some sort of tamarind but they are not like any I have seen.

I dont have any idea what it is, and have no pictures of the red beans or seed case. It could be a native plant or just as likely an exotic. If anyone has any guesses for what it might be I would appreciate it. May have to wait until I see flowers.

Hi Joe

I see the guys have answered your question and they are 100% spot on with the identification of the species as Erythrina (Otherwise known as the common Coral Tree)

They are fantastic species to work with as bonsai and grow very easily from large cuttings.

I have a thread on BNut (Which I haven't updated for about 2 years but will do now this weekend) should you want to check it out.

Common Coral Tree

This is a quick pic of what it looks like this morning.



Coral Trees have the most amazing orange red flowers but are very difficult to attain on bonsai as they only flower on previous years growth which makes your tree look long and leggy with no current style. This is not my tree but one I found on the internet to give you an idea of what I mean. Many people let it grow out for a season or 2 to get it to flower to see what it looks like and then cut it back into style.



This one below is unfortunately been photoshopped as you can see so many of the flowers are exactly the same and there is no ways they flower on such short branches.



They love to be in full sun and prefer to keep on the dryer side. The pot very easily into shallow pots. One of mine is in a pot with a depth of about 1-2 cm's and it has no problems. During the winter times, watering is reduced to 1 times every 1-2 weeks.

As you will notice the leaves are in 3 leaflets and the general consensus is to always cut away the middle one and leave the left and right leaves. The earlier you can do that, the better as it does to some extent help with leaf reduction. Leaf reduction is difficult but I found that the more sun it gets and the continual cutting away of leaves over a period does help on this too. Bear in mind though, you will probably never get very small leaves so the bigger you grow the tree the better it will look in leaf.

Do not hesitate to give me a shout if you need any more information and I will gladly assist.

 

[Dorian Fourie]

Those leaves remind me of a South African flowering tree, Boer Bean, Shotia brachypetala, check link see if I am close.

Schotia brachypetala - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

If it is, our member @Dorian Fourie has one he has been working on for many years.

If not maybe Dorian has an idea what it might be.

Hi Leo

Great memory on this. Yes I am work on one but its not Schotia but Erythrina (Otherwise known as the common Coral Tree). I have been very bad of late for not logging into the nut.

Hope you are well
D

 

[JoeR]

Hi Joe

I see the guys have answered your question and they are 100% spot on with the identification of the species as Erythrina (Otherwise known as the common Coral Tree)

They are fantastic species to work with as bonsai and grow very easily from large cuttings.

I have a thread on BNut (Which I haven't updated for about 2 years but will do now this weekend) should you want to check it out.

Common Coral Tree

This is a quick pic of what it looks like this morning.

View attachment 325404

Coral Trees have the most amazing orange red flowers but are very difficult to attain on bonsai as they only flower on previous years growth which makes your tree look long and leggy with no current style. This is not my tree but one I found on the internet to give you an idea of what I mean. Many people let it grow out for a season or 2 to get it to flower to see what it looks like and then cut it back into style.

View attachment 325401

This one below is unfortunately been photoshopped as you can see so many of the flowers are exactly the same and there is no ways they flower on such short branches.

View attachment 325402

They love to be in full sun and prefer to keep on the dryer side. The pot very easily into shallow pots. One of mine is in a pot with a depth of about 1-2 cm's and it has no problems. During the winter times, watering is reduced to 1 times every 1-2 weeks.

As you will notice the leaves are in 3 leaflets and the general consensus is to always cut away the middle one and leave the left and right leaves. The earlier you can do that, the better as it does to some extent help with leaf reduction. Leaf reduction is difficult but I found that the more sun it gets and the continual cutting away of leaves over a period does help on this too. Bear in mind though, you will probably never get very small leaves so the bigger you grow the tree the better it will look in leaf.

Do not hesitate to give me a shout if you need any more information and I will gladly assist.

Wow, thank you very much for the input and pictures. I find the leaves and flowers quite attractive. The long growth for flowers doesn't bother me, they are like hibiscus and chaste of which I have both so no problems there but great to know.

Although I'm not sure, I assumed mine is E. herbacea, whereas yours is E. lysistemon? Also, how cold tolerant have you found yours to be?

The leaves on mine are not all that large, maybe some genetic variance from seed, so removing just the middle leaf should do the trick

 

[Dorian Fourie]

Wow, thank you very much for the input and pictures. I find the leaves and flowers quite attractive. The long growth for flowers doesn't bother me, they are like hibiscus and chaste of which I have both so no problems there but great to know.

Although I'm not sure, I assumed mine is E. herbacea, whereas yours is E. lysistemon? Also, how cold tolerant have you found yours to be?

The leaves on mine are not all that large, maybe some genetic variance from seed, so removing just the middle leaf should do the trick

No problem

Yes the E. lysistemon is native to Southern Africa whilst the E. herbacea is native to Pakistan but then introduced into the Americas. They can handle cold temps as our winters drop to 0 degrees celcius but need to be protected from frost.

Good luck with the growing.

d

 

[Cajunrider]

A friend of mine gave me one last year. I put it in a pot and have ignored it til now. It probably will be ignored a few more years.