Family: Fabaceae

Erythrina crista-galli is a drought-tolerant tree that fixes nitrogen and is low maintenance once established! The striking orange/red flowers bloom throughout the year. This ornamental tree does well in a street and parking lot setting. Some beautiful specimens are thriving just before Waikoloa in the median on Hawaiʻi Island. Nectar pools in the bell-shaped flowers until it spills out, giving a crying effect, hence the common name ‘crybaby’ tree.

Plant Uses:

• Container plant
• Nitrogen fixer
• Ornamental
• Shade
• Specimen

Plant Dangers:

• Thorns or spines
• Toxic to animals and humans

High Risk Traits:

• Naturalized in Australia
  
• Environmental weed (noxious in parts of Australia)
  
• Has thorns/spines
  
• Tolerates diverse soils (sand, clay, loam)
  
• Nitrogen-fixing (alters soil conditions)
  
• Self-compatible (single plant can reproduce)
  
• Forms persistent seed bank
  
• Intentional cultivation (ornamental)
  
• Seeds float (potential water dispersal)

Low Risk Traits:

• Not an agricultural weed
  
• Requires full sun (not shade tolerant)
  
• Non-climbing tree (multiple trunks)
  
• No evidence of dense thickets
  
• Generalist pollinators (bees, hummingbirds)
  
• Low seed set (~6% of flowers)
  
• No vegetative spread
  
• No wind or animal dispersal adaptations