E' R Y' ? 
ffaderneatj'!; there is commonly a prickk alio ‘.urtsJett 
the common petiole on the flem, and fometimes,; but fel- 
dom, a prickle of two fcattered about the Hera, Leaflets 
haftate, deep green. The upper part of the ftalks are 
terminated by a long bunch or fpjke of fcaiiet flowers. 
Legumes five or fix inches long, containing five or fix 
Leaflet feeds. This fpecies flowers in September, but 
never produces feeds in England. It grows naturally in 
South Carolina, whence Mr. Catefby fent the feeds in the 
year 1724, and many plants were then raifed, in feveral 
curious gardens. It was alfo fent afterwards to Juflieu, 
from the banks of the Milliflippi. 
2. Erythrina carnea, or flefh-coloured coral-tree: leaves 
ternate, fmooth ; flem arboreous, prickly ; calyxes eam- 
panulate truncate. The feeds of this are not half fo large 
as thofe of the next fort, and are of a bright fcarlet 
colour ; the leaves are alfo much fmaller, and have long 
acute points ; the branches are very elofely armed with 
crooked greenifh fpines, as are alfo the ribs and foot-llalks 
of the leaves. The flowers grow in very long clofe 
fpikes, and are of a beautiful fcarlet colour. Cultivated 
in 1759, by Mr. Miller, who fays that he received the 
feeds from Vera Cruz, and afterwards from the Cape of 
Good Hope. 
3. Erythrina corallodendron, or fmooth-leaved coral- 
tree : leaves ternate unarmed ; flem arboreous, prickly ; 
calyxes truncate, five-toothed. This has a thick woody 
ftem, which rifes about ten or twelve feet high in this 
country, but where it is a native it grows to twice that 
height, fending out many firong irregular branches, 
which are covered with a brown bark. The flowers 
come out at the ends of the branches, in fhort thick clofe 
fpikes; they are of a deep fcarlet colour, and make a 
fine appearance ; they are commonly in beauty in May 
and June, but are not fucceeded by pods here : in Ame¬ 
rica they have thick fwelling crooked pods, containing 
large feeds of a reddifli purple colour. The leaves fall off 
in lpring, and in autumn new leaves put forth, which con¬ 
tinue green all the winter. The flowers do not appear 
till the leaves drop. Dr. Browne thinks it is not a native 
of Jamaica, but that it was introduced by the Spaniards, 
who planted it among their cacao trees, where the walks 
were molt expofed to the weather, in order to break the 
force of the winds, whence it acquired the appellation of 
mader di cocco, among them. In Jamaica it is called the 
coral orred bean-tree. There is fome difference between the 
weftern and eaftern plant; the prickles in the latter are 
blackifh : but the difference feems fcarcely fufficient to 
make them diftinCt fpecies. The leaves deep about noon, 
by conniving or clapping together. This is a native of 
the Society ifles, and of the fouthern part of China and 
Gochicu-china. 
4. Erythrina piCta, or prickly-leaved coral-tree : leaves 
ternate prickly ; Item arboreous, prickly. This has 
ihrubby branched (talks, feldom above eight or nine feet 
bigih, armed in every part with ftrong crooked black 
ipines. The leaves are fmaller than thofe of the pre¬ 
ceding, and have a nearer refemblance to the fir ft ; the 
foot-ftalksare armed with the fame fort of fpines, and the 
midrib has alfo fome which are (mailer and not fo black : 
the flowersareof a paler fcarlet and grow inloofer fpikes. 
The feeds are as large as thofe of the third fort, but of a 
dark purple colour. This tree is generally planted in the 
Eaft Indies for a 1 'upport to the pepper plants. 
5. Erythrina crifla-galli, or• cock’s-comb coral-tree: 
leaves ternate ; petioles fomewhat prickly, glandular ; 
flem arboreous, unarmed. This is a very lofty tree w ith¬ 
out any prickles on the trunk. Native of Brafil. 
6. Erythrina planifiliqua, or flat coral-tree : leaves Am¬ 
ple, oblong. Native of South America. 
7-.' Erythrina fufea, or brown coral-tree : leaves ter¬ 
nate, unarmed, lanceolate ; banner of the corolla convo¬ 
lute. Stem arboreous, eight feet high, wish a brown 
bark like that of hemp, and many fhort fcattered prickles. 
Native of Cochin-china, on the banks of rivers. Mr. 
* Vot.. VII. No. 403. 
R* * 
Bruce; affirms, that the feeds of one fp'ecies of firyt-hrind 
are called carats, and are ufed in weighing gold and pre- 
€-ious-fto'nes. 
; Miller mentions feveral other forts or varieties of this 
fine genus. As one which he names erythrina.inermis, 
the pods of which are longer, and not more than half fo 
thick as thofe of the third fort ; (lie feeds of a bright 
fcarlet, longer and more (lender than thofe of the others ; 
the leaves (mail and acute-pointed ; the (talks fmooth and 
without fpines. It does not grow very large, but (hoots 
out into branches at a little diftance from the ground, and 
thefe grow ereCt, fo as to form a bulky fhrub. The flow¬ 
ers come out at the ends of the branches in fhort fpikes. 
The wings of the corolla are longer than in the other forts, 
and the whole flower is more clofed. It is a native of the 
iflands in the Weft Indies. A fecond which he railed 
from fmall feedsof a bright fcarlet colour, that were fen-6 
him from the Cape of Good Hope. The plants had no 
fpines, the leaves were much larger than the other forts, 
their ftems were ftrong, and they had the appearance of 
growing to large trees. He railed a variety of the lecond 
fort, with paler flowers and feeds, and the plants leis 
thorny. Alfo a variety of the third fort, which he re¬ 
ceived from the ifland of Barbuda, with the flowers and 
pods very Ihort, the ftamens much longer than the petals, 
the pods very Ihort and crooked, but rather thicker than 
thofe of the third fort; the leaves, ftems, and branches* 
armed with fpines. 
Propagation and Culture. Thefe plants are belt propa¬ 
gated by feeds procured from the countries where they' 
grow naturally, for they do not produce any here. Sow' 
them in fmall pots, and plunge them into a moderate hot¬ 
bed ; where, if the feeds be good, the plants will come up 
in a month or five weeks. When they are two inches 
high, flrake them carefully out of the pots, and plant each 
in a fieparate fmall pot, filled with light earth, and plung¬ 
ed into a moderate hot-bed of tanners bark, (hading them 
from the fun till they have taken new root, admitting a 
large fliare of air to them when the weather is warm, to 
prevent their being drawn up weak, and giving them more 
air as the plants increafe in ftrength : water them fre¬ 
quently but moderately ; for too much moifture will rot 
the fibres of their roots. In the autumn remove the 
plants into the ftove ; and for the two or three firft win¬ 
ters they will require more heat than when they have ac¬ 
quired greater ftrength. Water them two or three times 
a-vveek whilft the leaves are in vigour ; but when thefe 
are fallen, moifture is very hurtful to them. They may 
alfo be increafed by cuttings, planted in pots during tiro 
fummer months, and plunged into a hot-bed; but feed-, 
ling plants are belt. 
The firft fort may be kept through the winter in a warm 
green-houfe, but in this fituation it rarely flowers. The 
lecond is frequently planted in the gardens near Li {bon, 
where it annually flowers, and the feeds ripen : but in 
England this and the other forts feldom flower, with any 
treatment we can give them. See Piscidia. 
ERYTHROBUL'BUS. See Wachendorfia. 
ERYTHRO'NIUM,/. [from e pv fipo;, Gr. red.] In bo¬ 
tany, a genus of the. dais hexandria, order monogynia, 
natural order of farmentacse, (lilia, JuJf.) The gene¬ 
ric characters, are—Corolla : petals fix,oblong-lanceolate, 
acuminate, alternately incumbent towards the bafe, gra¬ 
dually more fpreading, from the middle bent backwards; 
nectaries, tubercles two, obtule, callous, growing to 
each alternate and interior petal near the bafe. Stamina : 
filaments fix, 1'ubulate, very Ihort; antherae, oblong. 
Piltillum : germ turbinate ; ftyle Ample, (hat ter than the 
corolla, ftraight ; ftigma triple, fpreading, obtule. Peri- 
carpium : caplttle fomewhat globofe, narrower at the 
bale, three-celled, three valved. Seeds: very many; 
ovate, acuminate.— F.JfenlialCharafter . Corolla lix-petal- 
led, bell-lhaped ; nectary, tubercles two, fattened to the 
bafe of the alternate petals. 
Erythronium den's cam's, or dog-tooth violet,-a Engle 
C fpecies, 
