erthrina crista-galli var compacta
erthrina crista-galli var compacta
I was just sorting out my pics and thought I'd ask whether anyone else grew this. Its the 'compacta' form of erythrina crista-gallii. Its ideal for UK gardens as it doesn't need to generate a trunk in order to flower and means you can just dig up and store the root at the end of each year and still get a good crop of flowers. I've only ever seen it for sale once which is when i got my plant. is it available anywhere?
Re: erythrina crista-galli var compacta
I love this plant and would like to get my hands on the compact form but I don't think they are available in the UK. Does yours set seed? I would love to buy some off you If available. Cheers Jas.
Re: erthrina crista-galli var compacta
I've only ever had four of five seeds off it Jas. I dont know whether thats normal or not. I'd like to find another source of it too. Not requiring a trunk shoudl mean its a plant that will be OK outside here if you just dump a few spadefuls of compost on it to protect the roots over winter. Dont want to risk my only plant though
Re: erthrina crista-galli var compacta
I would be very interested to know what the seeds grow into.
There is some debate about this plant. It was distributed in the UK by Liam at Madrona Nursery [always worth a visit if you are in the area], but he hasn’t listed it since 2010. I understand it isn’t easy from cuttings.
It is unclear if it is a form of E.crista-galli or a selection [or even a back cross] from E. x bidwillii. If the hybrid then the seeds should give a range of forms. To complicate matters though, x bidwillii is said to be seed sterile [at least the original clones were].
If you Google for pictures of it some of them are clearly x bidwillii.
The books say it can be propagated by cuttings in high summer, but I have failed with that approach for both crista-galli itself and x bidwillii. Crista-galli and herbacea are easy from seed though.
I too am on the hunt for compacta if anyone knows of a source.
Chad.
ps. Has anyone even seen the white form; Erythrina crista-galli var leucochlora?
There is some debate about this plant. It was distributed in the UK by Liam at Madrona Nursery [always worth a visit if you are in the area], but he hasn’t listed it since 2010. I understand it isn’t easy from cuttings.
It is unclear if it is a form of E.crista-galli or a selection [or even a back cross] from E. x bidwillii. If the hybrid then the seeds should give a range of forms. To complicate matters though, x bidwillii is said to be seed sterile [at least the original clones were].
If you Google for pictures of it some of them are clearly x bidwillii.
The books say it can be propagated by cuttings in high summer, but I have failed with that approach for both crista-galli itself and x bidwillii. Crista-galli and herbacea are easy from seed though.
I too am on the hunt for compacta if anyone knows of a source.
Chad.
ps. Has anyone even seen the white form; Erythrina crista-galli var leucochlora?
Re: erthrina crista-galli var compacta
I don't know about the origins of this plant but its definately different than the standard species that i've also grown from seed. It flowers on short two foot stems straight from the ground. They tend to die back when the plant is over wintered even if its brought inside.