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The Original Mystery Plant
It's native to central South America, from Bolivia and southern Brazil down into Argentina, where it is well- known and admired. In fact, it's the national flower of both Argentina and Uruguay. In nature, the plants may become trees up to 30- feet tall. This species is widely grown all over the world as a garden ornamental, and it can tolerate some frost as long as it gets some protection. Around here it usually only gets to be a shrub and dies back into the ground each winter. This plant has about 100 close relatives, all in the same genus. The stems and leaf stalks are wickedly spiny with very sharp, curving prickles. The leaves are compound, each with three shiny green leaflets. The flowers are extremely showy, and bright red or red- orange blossoms appear in large clusters up and down the stem. The flowers have no fragrance at all, and they don't need any. Each flower has a prominent stalk and a bowl shaped calyx. The flowers' petals are typical for many members of the bean family with a large banner along with four smaller petals that wrap around the stamens and pistil. In most members of the bean family, such a flower is usually upright with the banner forming the uppermost or top petal. However, the mystery plant has its banner petal lowermost of the five petals. The flower resupinate, which means that during its development its stalk twists one half of a full turn so that the flower appears to be upside down. Presumably, the banner then acts as a potential landing platform for visiting insects. Evidence suggests that hummingbirds are effective pollinators of this plant.
Answer to this week's mystery plant [Answer: "Coral tree," Erythrina crista-galli] Dr. John Nelson is the curator of the USC Herbarium. To learn more about the Herbarium, call 777-8196. The department also offers free plant identification. www.herbarium.org
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