# Poró (Erythrina poeppigiana)

> 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.

Source: https://treerm.org/trees/erythrina-poeppigiana · Updated 2026-11-08 · License CC BY 4.0

## Facts

- Also called: Mountain immortelle, Coral tree, Bucare, Cámbulo, Písamo
- Family: Fabaceae
- Type: Broadleaf, loses its leaves in winter
- Mature height: 25 m; spread 15 m
- Growth: Fast growing; lives about 80 years
- Light: Full sun
- Water: Moderate water
- 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.

**Benefits:** Fixes nitrogen, Flowers, Birds, Pollinators, Shade, Fast canopy

**Good for:** Agroforestry, parks, Streambanks

**Watch out for:** Thorns, Toxic parts, Weak wood

## 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.

## Where it stands

- **Native:** Bolivia; AM, Brazil; Colombia; Ecuador; Panama; Peru; Venezuela
- **Adapted:** Costa Rica (Introduced; the standard pollarded coffee shade tree); Cuba (Introduced per WCVP); Guatemala (Introduced per WCVP); Honduras (Introduced per WCVP); India (Introduced per WCVP)

## 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