{"slug":"erythrina-poeppigiana","scientific_name":"Erythrina poeppigiana","common_names":["Poró","Mountain immortelle","Coral tree","Bucare","Cámbulo","Písamo"],"family":"Fabaceae","type":"broadleaf_deciduous","mature_height_m":25,"mature_spread_m":15,"growth_rate":"fast","lifespan_years":80,"hardiness_zones":null,"sun":"full","water":"medium","soil":"Tolerates low fertility and high acidity (to pH 4.3); humid lowland to montane sites","native_range":"Native to the Amazon and Orinoco basins of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, the Guianas and Panama; introduced throughout Central America and the Caribbean as a shade tree.","description":"A tall, fast-growing coral tree to 35 m with a prickly grey trunk and brilliant orange-red flowers pollinated by hummingbirds, borne when the tree is bare. It is the classic shade tree of Costa Rican and Andean coffee farms, where it is pollarded to 2 to 3 m twice a year so the nitrogen-rich prunings mulch the coffee. Erythrina fusca and E. berteroana play the same role on wetter and drier sites. Its leaves contain alkaloids that may be risky for non-ruminants.","care":"Plant large stem cuttings or seedlings at 6 to 8 m spacing; weed in the first year. Start formation pruning after four to six months and regular pollarding after nine to twelve months, no more than twice a year or the tree declines. Needs no watering once established. June beetle larvae from adults feeding on its leaves can damage adjacent crops. Keep the thorny trunk away from paths.","benefits":["nitrogen_fixing","flowers","birds","pollinators","shade","fast_canopy"],"uses":["agroforestry","parks","riparian"],"cautions":["thorns","toxic_parts","weak_wood"],"image_url":"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/C%C3%A1mbulo_-_P%C3%ADsamo_%28Erythrina_poeppigiana%29_%2814741089764%29.jpg","image_credit":"Wikimedia Commons, file Cámbulo_-_Písamo_(Erythrina_poeppigiana)_(14741089764).jpg (see file page for author and licence)","sources":["https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/treedb2/speciesprofile.php?Spid=748","https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/treedb/AFTPDFS/Erythrina_poeppigiana.PDF","https://www.gbif.org/species/5349755"],"data_note":null,"updated_at":"2026-11-08T01:00:46.205Z","page_url":"https://treerm.org/trees/erythrina-poeppigiana","markdown_url":"https://treerm.org/trees/erythrina-poeppigiana.md","regions":[{"country":"BO","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/5349755"},{"country":"BR","region":"AM","locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/5349755"},{"country":"CO","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/5349755"},{"country":"EC","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/5349755"},{"country":"PA","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/5349755"},{"country":"PE","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/5349755"},{"country":"VE","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/5349755"},{"country":"CR","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"adapted","note":"Introduced; the standard pollarded coffee shade tree","source_url":"https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/treedb2/speciesprofile.php?Spid=748"},{"country":"CU","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"adapted","note":"Introduced per WCVP","source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/5349755"},{"country":"GT","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"adapted","note":"Introduced per WCVP","source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/5349755"},{"country":"HN","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"adapted","note":"Introduced per WCVP","source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/5349755"},{"country":"IN","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"adapted","note":"Introduced per WCVP","source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/5349755"}],"license":"CC-BY-4.0"}