African Wildlife & Environment Issue 84 2023

GARDENING FOR BIODIVERSITY

Cape. The attractive orange flowers are borne in early summer but, unlike those of the other species, are tipped with yellow and green and are followed by prickly pods. Besides these six indigenous species there are some hybrids and several alien cultivated members of the genus Erythrina , named from the Greek ‘erythros’, meaning red and referring to the flowers. Some towns in Mpumalanga have very wisely used E. lysistemon as street trees and, in late winter to early spring, their beauty challenges that of the better known, but alien, Jacarandas of Pretoria. Quite early in its colonization, KwaZulu-Natal became known as the ‘Garden Colony’ on account of its wealth of indigenous flora. What a sight it must have been in those days, to have seen the hills ablaze every winter with the scarlet flowers of some of

Erythrina lysistemon , the species of this genus most often found in gardens, appeals to a large variety of birds such as this Olive Sunbird (Photograph: P Vos)

National Park. Its corky bark and large, rounded, velvety leaflets are most attractive and are an added bonus. The flowers of all three of these winter flowering species make a stunning display against the contrasting blue winter sky in the summer rainfall areas. There are also some beautiful, summer-flowering members of this genus. One is the Dwarf Coral tree E. humeana , a sun-loving shrub with a natural distribution area from just north of Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) to the Zimbabwean border. Like the other Erythrina species, it loses its leaves during winter, but makes up for that when it is in flower. The ‘Ploughbreaker’ E. zeyheri , found naturally in Gauteng, Free State, North-West, Mpumalanga and some inland parts of KwaZulu-Natal, also flowers in summer. A dwarf shrublet, suitable for rockeries even in very frosty areas, it dies down completely during winter after which the slender, prickly stems, with large, spiny leaves, spring up like magic, followed by the brilliant flowers. This beautiful plant grows from a large root which resembles a giant carrot and gives rise to the common name that no doubt originated from disgruntled farmers. The single remaining indigenous Erythrina species, Tambookie Thorn E. acanthocarpa, is a small shrub found around the Queenstown area in the Eastern

the indigenous Erythrina species, before these were replaced by exotic gardens and alien invasive plants. One such invader, also with striking red or orange flowers, is Red Sesbania Sesbania punicea . It has invaded large parts of the country from Cape Town to Pretoria and even further north. This attractive, deciduous shrub or small tree hails from South America. Its flowers resemble sweet peas, and it produces characteristic oblong pods The yellow, less common, version of Erythrina lysistemon is not as effective in attracting wildlife (Photograph: C Botha)

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