Erythrina vespertilio

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Erythrina vespertilio
Bean trees.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Erythrina
Species:
E. vespertilio
Binomial name
Erythrina vespertilio
E. vespertilio bark. Erythrina vespertilio 01 ies.jpg
E. vespertilio bark.
E. vespertilio foliage. Erythrina vespertilio foliage.jpg
E. vespertilio foliage.
Erythrina vespertilio habit Erythrina vespertilio habit.jpg
Erythrina vespertilio habit

Erythrina vespertilio is a tree native to north and north-east Australia. Its common names are grey corkwood, bat's wing coral tree, [1] yulbah [2] and the more ambiguous "bean tree". In the Western Desert language it is known as ininti and the in Arrernte and Anmatyerr it is known as atywerety.

Contents

Description

The small tree has a straggly habit and typically grows to a height of 6 to 10 metres (20 to 33 ft). [3] [2] The trunk has a diameter of approximately 0.3 m (1.0 ft). [4] It has thorns on the trunk and branches with bark that is deeply furrowed and corky and creamy-grey in colour. [3]

That leaves are bifoliolate or trifoliolate and are 10 to 15 centimetres (4 to 6 in) long. The leaflets have a broad wedge-shape with three lobes, resembling a bat's open wings. The leaflets are 7 to 12 cm (2.8 to 4.7 in) long and 5 to 12 cm (2.0 to 4.7 in) wide. The species is deciduous in the dry season. [3]

The tree blooms between August and September producing scarlet to orange-red pea flowers that are 3 to 4 cm (1.2 to 1.6 in) long are found on terminal racemes 5 to 25 cm (2.0 to 9.8 in) in length. [3] The flowers have a calyx that is 1.5 to 2.5 cm (0.59 to 0.98 in) long and petals that are about 3 cm (1.18 in) long. There are usually ten stamens. Flowering usually occurs when the tree is leafless. [5]

The seeds resemble beans and are orange to dark yellow in colour with a length of about 1.2 cm (0.47 in) found in pods that are 6 to 12 cm (2.4 to 4.7 in) long and 1.5 to 1.8 cm (0.59 to 0.71 in) wide. [3]

Distribution

E. vespertilio is found on all mainland states except Victoria, mainly in open woodlands but extends to arid areas and rainforest margins. [3] It is found in the Kimberley, Pilbara and northern Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia. [2] throughout most of the Northern Territory and Queensland, northern South Australia and north eastern New South Wales. It found in an altitudinal range from near sea level to 800 metres (2,625 ft). [5] It grows in a wide range of soils as long as drainage is good and it has a position in full sun. [3]

Classification

The species was first formally described by the botanist George Bentham in 1848 as part of Thomas Mitchell's work Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia. [6]

There are two synonyms Corallodendron vespertilio and Erythrina biloba, [4] and the name of this species is often misapplied to Erythrina numerosa. [6]

There are two known subspecies:

Uses

It was widely traditionally used by Aboriginal Australians in Central Australia for making woomeras and coolamons. The Warlpiri, Anmatyerr, Arrernte and Alyawarr, use the wood to make shields, used either for warfare or ceremonially. These shields could then be used for making fire with the friction method.

The bark is also considered to have traditional medicinal uses.[ citation needed ] The fruit contains alkaloids and the stem contains isoflavonoids. Phaseollidin (a flavonoid) showed cytotoxic activities in vitro against prostate cancer cell lines at high doses. [8]

The seeds are used to make decorations.

Related Research Articles

<i>Erythrina</i> Genus of plants

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. The generic name is derived from the Greek word ερυθρóς erythros, meaning "red", referring to the flower color of certain species.

<i>Erythrina herbacea</i> Species of legume

Erythrina herbacea, commonly known as the coral bean, Cherokee bean, Mamou plant in South Louisiana, red cardinal or cardinal spear, is a flowering shrub or small tree found throughout the southeastern United States and northeastern Mexico; it has also been reported from parts of Central America and, as an introduced species, from Pakistan. Various other systematic names have been used for this plant in the past, including Erythrina arborea, Erythrina hederifolia, Erythrina humilis, Erythrina rubicunda, Corallodendron herbaceum and Xyphanthus hederifolius.

<i>Dermatophyllum</i> Genus of plants

Dermatophyllum is a genus of three or four species of shrubs and small trees in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family, Fabaceae. The genus is native to southwestern North America from western Texas to New Mexico and Arizona in the United States, and south through Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Nuevo León in northern Mexico. Members of the genus are commonly known as mescalbean, mescal bean, or frijolito. One of the common names of Dermatophyllum secundiflorum is Texas mountain laurel, although the name mountain laurel also refers to the very dissimilar and unrelated genus Kalmia and the name laurel refers generally to plants in the unrelated order Laurales.

<i>Erythrina variegata</i> Species of legume

Erythrina variegata, commonly known as tiger's claw or Indian coral tree, is a species of Erythrina native to the tropical and subtropical regions of eastern Africa, the Indian subcontinent, northern Australia, and the islands of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean east to Fiji.

<i>Fraxinus angustifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Fraxinus angustifolia, the narrow-leaved ash, is a species of Fraxinus native to Central Europe and Southern Europe, Northwest Africa, and Southwest Asia.

<i>Heritiera littoralis</i> Species of mangrove tree in the family Malvaceae

Heritiera littoralis, commonly known as the looking-glass mangrove or tulip mangrove, is a mangrove tree in the family Malvaceae native to coastal areas of eastern Africa, Asia, Melanesia and northern Australia. The common name refers to the silvery appearance of the underside of the leaves, resembling a mirror to some degree. The strong timber has uses in marine applications and elsewhere.

<i>Flindersia pimenteliana</i> Species of flowering plant

Flindersia pimenteliana, commonly known as maple silkwood, red beech or rose silkwood, is a species of tree in the family Rutaceae and is native to New Guinea and Queensland. It has pinnate leaves with three to seven egg-shaped to elliptic leaflets, panicles of red or reddish flowers and fruit studded with rough points.

<i>Melicope elleryana</i> Species of shrub

Melicope elleryana, commonly known as pink flowered doughwood, pink evodia, corkwood, or saruwa, is a species of rainforest shrub or tree in the family Rutaceae, and is native to New Guinea, parts of eastern Indonesia, the Solomon Islands and northern Australia. It has trifoliate leaves and pink to white, bisexual flowers arranged in panicles in leaf axils.

<i>Ailanthus triphysa</i> Species of tree

Ailanthus triphysa is a medium to tall evergreen rainforest tree in Asia and Australia. The wood may be used for matchwood and plywood. The tree is known as halmaddi in India, where its resin, also called halmaddi, may be used in incense. Inappropriate extraction methods were resulting in trees dying, so by the 1990s the Indian forestry department had banned extraction.

<i>Atractocarpus fitzalanii</i> Species of plant in the family Rubiaceae

Atractocarpus fitzalanii, commonly known as the brown gardenia or yellow mangosteen, is a species of plant in the coffee and madder family Rubiaceae. It is found in coastal parts of tropical Queensland, Australia. The beautifully scented flowers and glossy foliage has seen this plant enter cultivation in gardens of eastern Australia.

<i>Erythrina edulis</i> Species of tree

Erythrina edulis (basul) is a nitrogen fixing tree that is native to the Andean region from western Venezuela to southern Bolivia. Nowadays it is known in Venezuela as "frijol mompás", in Bolivia, Peru and Northwest Argentina as "psonay", "pajuro", "sachaporoto del basul" or "poroto del sacha", in Colombia as "chachafruto", "balú", "baluy" or "sachaporoto" and in Ecuador as "guato". Although it is widely known, it is not commonly cultivated. Future research is needed, especially in agroforestry. Basul is a legume and so it produces protein-rich beans covered in pods which can be used for human or animal nutrition. The leaves and branches can be used as fodder. Besides the agricultural aspects, Erythrina edulis can also be used as a fence plant.

<i>Dysoxylum mollissimum <span style="font-style:normal;">subsp.</span> molle</i> Subspecies of tree

Dysoxylum mollissimum subsp. molle, the red bean or Miva mahogany, is a rainforest tree in the family Meliaceae. It occurs in tropical, sub-tropical and littoral rainforests in eastern Australia, as far southwards as north-eastern New South Wales. Also occurs in Malesia and the south-western Pacific Islands. In Australia it is distributed from the Bellinger River in New South Wales in the south, to the wet tropics of north-eastern Queensland. The specific epithet mollissimum is from the Latin, meaning "very soft", describing the soft hairy leaflets. A signposted red bean tree may be seen near the car park of Victoria Park Nature Reserve in north-eastern New South Wales.

<i>Dysoxylum rufum</i> Species of tree

Dysoxylum rufum is a rainforest tree in the family Meliaceae, found in eastern Australia. It occurs on a variety of different soils and rainforest types. From as far south as Bulahdelah, New South Wales to the McIlwraith Range in far north eastern Australia. The specific epithet rufum refers to the rusty red of the leaf, fruit and flower hairs of this species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pterocarpan</span> Class of chemical compounds

Pterocarpans are derivatives of isoflavonoids found in the family Fabaceae. It is a group of compounds which can be described as benzo-pyrano-furano-benzenes which can be formed by coupling of the B ring to the 4-one position.

<i>Erythrina flabelliformis</i> Species of legume

Erythrina flabelliformis, common name chilicote or western coral bean, is a plant species native to central and northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It is known from Baja California as far south as Morelos and as far east as San Luis Potosí, as well as from Arizona and New Mexico.

<i>Acacia macdonnelliensis</i> Species of legume

Acacia macdonnelliensis, commonly known as the MacDonnell mulga or the Hill mulga, is a species of Acacia native to central Australia. The Indigenous Australians the Alyawarr peoples know the plant as irrar, the Kaytetye know it as arleth-arlethe or arwele arleth-arlethe and the Western Arrernte peoples know it as irrkwarteke.

<i>Leptospermum madidum</i> Species of shrub

Leptospermum madidum is a species of shrub or small tree that is endemic to north-western Australia. It has weeping branches, smooth bark, pale green linear leaves, small white flowers and thin-walled fruit.

<i>Erythrina berteroana</i> Species of legume

Erythrina berteroana is a species of small deciduous tree in the family Fabaceae. It is found in Mexico, Central America and the northern part of South America. Common names include elequeme, gallito, machete, pernila de casa, pito and poró de cerca. It is a common tree in the drier parts of its range and has many traditional uses.

<i>Mucuna gigantea</i> Species of plant in the family Fabaceae

Mucuna gigantea, commonly known as burny bean, burney bean, velvet bean or sea bean is a species of liana from the legume family Fabaceae. Its natural range roughly follows the perimeter of the Indian Ocean and includes Africa, India, Malesia, New Guinea and northern Australia.

<i>Senna glutinosa</i> Species of legume

Senna glutinosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to central and northern arid areas of Australia. It is a shrub or small tree with pinnate leaves with up to seven pairs of leaflets, their shape depending on subspecies, and yellow flowers arranged in groups with ten fertile stamens in each flower.

References

  1. Philip A. Clarke (2012). Australian plants as Aboriginal Tools. Rosenberg Publishing. ISBN   9781922013576.
  2. 1 2 3 "Erythrina vespertilio". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Erythrina vespertilio". Australian Native Plants Society. January 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Bat's wing coral tree (Erythrina vespertilio)". Wildscreen Arkive. 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-02-07. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  5. 1 2 F.A.Zich; B.P.M.Hyland; T.Whiffen; R.A.Kerrigan (2020). "Erythrina vespertilio". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants (RFK8). Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government . Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Erythrina vespertilio Benth. (misapplied to Erythrina numerosa)". Atlas of Living Australia. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  7. "Erythrina vespertilio subsp. biloba". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  8. Iranshahi M., Vu H., Pham N., Zencak D., Forster P., Quinn R.J.,"Cytotoxic evaluation of alkaloids and isoflavonoids from the Australian tree erythrina vespertilio". Planta Medica. 78 (7) (pp 730-736), 2012.