The Lucky Bean Tree

Commonly called: Coral Tree
Zulu name: Umsinsi, Umsisi. Erythrina Lysistemon

This small to medium sized tree grows in scrub forest, dry woodland and costal dune bush in South Africa.

It has beautiful, clear scarlet flowers which bloom from July to October. The pods are long, black and narrow and are constricted between the shiny red seeds.

There is a custom, in the Eastern Transvaal, that when a man dies a truncheon is taken from a tree growing near his hut and is planted on his grave.

Strips of bark are also used to tie bundles of herbs together and then boiled to make infusions taken to ease childbirth.