Erythrina costaricensis Micheli

Trees, the branchlets often with silver mottling, smooth, occasionally gla-brous, often armed, the spines scattered. Leaves with the leaflets ovate trape-ziform, obliquely ovate to ovate elliptic, 9-22 cm long, 6-20 cm wide, narrowly acuminate at the apex, oblique, rounded or widely cuneate at the base, thin chartaceous to subcoriaceous, reticulate, often glaucous beneath, glabrous to densely puberulent, the hairs appressed and often confined to the costa and sec-ondary veins; petiolules 0.5-1.7 cm long, arachnoid villose to glabrescent; peti-oles 5-22 cm long; rachises 2-20 cm long. Inflorescences with bracts linear lan-ceolate, to 6 mm long, ca. 0.8 mm wide; bracteoles resembling smaller bracts. Flower with the calyx narrowly campanulate or tubular, 15-30 mm long, 8-10 mm wide, chartaceous to subcoriaceous, glabrous or puberulent, bilabiate, the lobes evanescent or to 7 mm long, the teeth scarcely evident; standard obovate elliptic or narrowly oblong, 60-75 mm long, 12.5-16 mm wide, tapering acutely apically, ultimately obtuse, obtuse basally, the claw to 9 mm long, stiff carnose or thin coriaceous, glabrous; wing petals obovate oblong or oblong, 7-9 mm long, obtuse apically and basally, delicately petaloid, the claw indistinct; keel petals circular oblong or inequilaterally ensiform, ca. 8 mm long, 3.5-10 mm wide, briefly broad acuminate apically, oblique basally, petaloid, glabrous, the claw indistinct; staminal sheath 1-2 mm wide medially, the filaments crassate, ca. 0.8 mm wide, the odd filament often briefly united to the sheath, the anthers 3-4 mm long; ovary flat, 10-15 mm long, puberulent, fusiform, sigmatioid, to 60 mm long, ca. 1 mm wide, ferruginous lanose, the stipe filamentous, the style flat basally, cylindrical subulate above, to 20 mm long. Fruit with stipes to 5 cm long, mo-niliform, 15-23 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, the style base to 5 cm long, farinose with minute deciduous hairs, some hairs persisting between the seeds, the seeds scar-let, ca. 1 cm long or longer and 0.7 cm wide.

Lowland areas in wet and moist forests.

Can be grown by cuttings or seedlings. Seeds needs soaking.