Erythrina herbacea

This is a deciduous shrub that has red tubular flowers and trifoliate, three-lobed alternate leaves. The pod holds poisonous, bright-scarlet seeds.

Wildlife – It attracts hummingbirds and is the larval host plant of the Florida purplewing (Eunica tatila) butterfly.

Also known as the “crybaby tree” because the nectar is so abundant the tree “weeps.”
Young leaves and flowers are reportedly edible when cooked. Seeds are toxic to man and animals but are often strung like beads. The juice from the stem is used to treat scorpion stings. Seminole Indians used leaf decoctions as a remedy for dog ailments.