Example ⟳ +
An example collection, so you can see what this page does. Nothing added here is kept: leaving deletes it.
Erythrina livingstoniana; photograph Paul Meintjes00, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SAPaul Meintjes00, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Erythrina livingstoniana Baker

Aloe coraltree

Fabaceae · Malawi, Mozambique +2

Add one to my plants
Sow seed
Erythrina livingstoniana, photograph (c) Mmatjie Mashao, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)Erythrina livingstoniana, photograph (c) Suvarna Parbhoo Mohan, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)Erythrina livingstoniana, photograph (c) Suvarna Parbhoo Mohan, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)Erythrina livingstoniana, photograph (c) i_c_riddell, some rights reserved (CC BY)Erythrina livingstoniana, photograph Paul Meintjes00, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsErythrina livingstoniana, photograph Paul Meintjes00, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons 7 photographs ›
Habitat figuresfrom few records
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
12.0°C
Record low 7.3 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
33°C
Oct and Nov at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
773mm
7 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
26–42DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet summers: the rain comes June to September (December to March at the habitat), read as a summer growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

From few records: 11 records in 8 grid cells. The records.

About the genus · Erythrina

Erythrina is a genus of plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains about 130 species, which are distributed in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. They are trees, with the larger species growing up to 30 m (98 ft) in height. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Erythrina", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (621 mm of 802 mm) falls in December to March, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 27.0 °C against a yearly mean of 24.8 °C). Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: June to September.

Rain

802 mm in the median year at the habitat, 621 mm of it December to March. Wettest month January at 203 mm, driest month August at 6 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 653 mm to 1,028 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 773 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 802 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, southern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 26 to 42 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 25, the highest 90th-percentile month 46).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 12.0 °C, the absolute minimum 7.3 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 42.8 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 14.9 °C in July (across the grid cells of the range 10.3 °C to 16.3 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 32.8 °C in November (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 12.0 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 53 to 63% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected -131 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

From few records: this habitat climate is read from 11 records in 8 grid cells; a page says so under 12 records or 5 cells, and shows the figures as read.

Habitat months, southern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Erythrina livingstoniana through the yearWarmest months October and November, mean daily high 33 °C; coldest month July, mean nightly low 14.9 °C; 802 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, southern hemisphere.0°10°20°30°40°50°42.8° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER7.3° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200250mm rainDLI 26–42RH 53–63%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 8 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C32 / 28–3231 / 28–3231 / 28–3230 / 28–3129 / 26–2927 / 24–2726 / 23–2728 / 27–2931 / 30–3333 / 31–3533 / 32–3532 / 29–33
Night °C23 / 20–2423 / 19–2323 / 19–2320 / 17–2118 / 14–1916 / 11–1715 / 10–1616 / 13–1718 / 16–2020 / 19–2322 / 20–2423 / 20–24
Rain mm203 / 129–224167 / 131–19797 / 84–16133 / 22–5717 / 3–269 / 1–1810 / 1–216 / 1–1510 / 1–1626 / 15–3870 / 66–80154 / 132–190
DLI38 / 37–4037 / 36–3835 / 34–3732 / 31–3629 / 28–3226 / 25–3026 / 25–3131 / 30–3738 / 36–4341 / 38–4642 / 40–4439 / 38–41
RH %62 / 59–6463 / 59–6562 / 59–6358 / 55–6056 / 52–5856 / 52–5756 / 50–5755 / 47–5653 / 44–5553 / 46–5556 / 51–5760 / 59–62
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 8 grid cells holding the 11 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 2116:4182 (-15.825, 29.125). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 7.3 °C, 1st-percentile night 12.0 °C, 99th-percentile day 42.8 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 8 distinct grid cells holding 11 of the 11 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2116:4182 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -16.00_29.375, lapse-corrected -131 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 378 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeMalawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker-18.04, 35.2 · in the densest population, 10 records (36% of those in range)
Kew's description“tree” · “seasonally dry tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 28 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 11 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 9 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 522 km away. 7 records outside the WCVP native range not used. Under a dozen records behind the climate. 17 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 28 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Erythrina livingstoniana, photograph 1did not loadErythrina livingstoniana, photograph 2did not loadErythrina livingstoniana, photograph 3did not loadErythrina livingstoniana, photograph 4did not loadErythrina livingstoniana, photograph 5did not loadErythrina livingstoniana, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Mmatjie Mashao, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA); (c) Suvarna Parbhoo Mohan, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (2); (c) i_c_riddell, some rights reserved (CC BY); Paul Meintjes00, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (2).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Strophanthus kombe Strophanthus kombe Kombe arrow poison Photo: CC BY, i_c_riddellAloe divaricata Aloe divaricata Asphodelaceae Photo: CC BY, amantedarmaninXerosicyos decaryi Xerosicyos decaryi Cucurbitaceae Photo: CC BY, amantedarmaninColvillea racemosa Colvillea racemosa Fabaceae Photo: CC BY, amantedarmanin Eucalyptus chartaboma Paperbark Gum Kalanchoe daigremontiana Kalanchoe daigremontiana Devil's backbone Photo: CC BY, Jordi Martínez Martínez

Other Erythrina 40 in the reference

Erythrina abyssinica Erythrina abyssinica Luckybean Tree Photo: CC BY, Jiro IguchiErythrina acanthocarpa Erythrina acanthocarpa Thorny coraltree Photo: CC BY-SA, Kate Webster00Erythrina americana Erythrina americana American Coral Tree Photo: CC BY, Franceli MacedoErythrina arborescens Erythrina arborescens Himalayan Coral Tree Photo: CC BY-SA, WoudloperErythrina berteroana Erythrina berteroana Machete Photo: CC BY, Neptalí Ramírez MarcialErythrina breviflora Erythrina breviflora Fabaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Oscar Alejandro Morales JuárezErythrina caffra Erythrina caffra Coral tree Photo: CC BY-SA, Ron KErythrina corallodendron Erythrina corallodendron Coral erythrina Photo: CC BY, lienyuan leeErythrina costaricensis Erythrina costaricensis Fabaceae Photo: CC BY, Anthony Mora AguilarErythrina crista-galli Erythrina crista-galli Cockspur coral tree Photo: CC BY, Rafael TosiErythrina decora Erythrina decora Namib Coral Tree Photo: CC0, author not statedErythrina edulis Erythrina edulis Basul Photo: CC BY, GERMAN LEONEL SARMIENTO CRUZ all 41 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Corallodendron livingstonianum. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataiNaturalist

The record

Family
Fabaceae
Described by
Baker
Native to
Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia +1
Wild records
28 in range · 9 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -16.00_29.375, lapse-corrected -131 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia nothing to reportasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22none of the photographs on this page is credited to GBIF: those shown are other sources', and GBIF's were the same photographs or were set aside by the photograph rules
Wikimedia Commons commons answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 8 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

Opening your plants…