Light. Flowers best in full sun or light shade.
Water. Water well at planting. Once established it is highly drought tolerant and does better with infrequent watering.
Soil and feeding. Grows in a wide range of soils but does best in fertile, well-drained sandy soil. It still grows reasonably well in poor sandy or limestone soil.
Size. Usually 6–8 ft tall in South Florida, where it grows as a deciduous shrub or small tree with pale, thick bark.
Problems to watch. Erythrina stem borer larvae can kill stem tips. Leafrollers, gall wasps and leafminers also feed on it, but rarely seriously.
Good to know. A Florida native whose red tubular flowers feed hummingbirds and butterflies. It is moderately salt tolerant. The seeds, pods and leaves are poisonous; keep them away from children and pets. It looks ragged out of bloom, so plant it among other shrubs.
Sources: UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions: Coral Bean · Natives for Your Neighborhood (Institute for Regional Conservation): Erythrina herbacea
