Erythrostemon gilliesii

Description

Erythrostemon gilliesii is a large evergreen shrub with 2-pinnate leaves. It is upright, open, and rounded with yellow flowers and long crimson stamens.

This plant grows up to 5m (16.5 ft), depending on rainfall. The leaves are bipinnate, 10 - long, bearing 3–10 pairs of pinnae, each with 6–10 pairs of leaflets 5 - long and 2 - broad. The flowers are borne in racemes up to 20 cm long, each flower with five yellow petals with 10 long conspicuous red stamens. The pods are densely covered in short, red glandular hairs.

Cultivation

It is a striking ornamental plant native to South America, mainly Argentina and Uruguay. It is naturalized in Texas, and fairly common in the rest of the southwestern United States, where it is known as bird of paradise bush, desert bird of paradise, yellow bird of paradise, and barba de chivo.

Although it is a tropical plant adapted to dry climates, it also thrives in the climate of Avsa and neighboring islands in the south of Sea of Marmara in northwestern Turkey, where it is commonly known as Paşabıyığı (Pasabiyigi), Cennetkuşu ağacı (Cennetkusu agaci), which in Turkish means "bird of paradise tree," and Bodurakasya, which means "dwarf acacia". This species is also fairly common in the Karoo of South Africa, and found in the Catalonian and Valencian regions of Spain.

Medicinal uses

Medicine men of peoples indigenous to the Amazon rainforest used this plant and the similar Caesalpinia pulcherrima, which they called ayoowiri, for curing fever, sores, and cough. Four grams from the root is also said to induce abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. Research has indicated that the plant has anti-microbial effects.

It may also be used in the extraction of contaminants from soil.

Poisoning

Poisoning may occur with the seeds of this plant. The seeds and the green seed pods of this plant are toxic, provoking severe vomiting and other abdominal symptoms.

References

• Weeds of California and Other Western States, Vol. 1, University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Publication 3488, ,

References

1. [https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/379179/erythrostemon-gilliesii/details Royal Horticultural Society website, ''Erythrostemon gilliesii'']
2. [https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/erythrostemon-gilliesii/ North Carolina Plant Toolbox website, ''Erythrostemon gilliesii'']
3. [https://invasives.org.za/fact-sheet/bird-of-paradise-flower/ Invasive Plants of South Africa website, ''Bird of Paradise flower'']
4. "Erythrostemon gilliesii (Hook.) Klotzsch {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science".
5. [https://gd.eppo.int/taxon/CAEGI EPPO Global Database website, ''Caesalpinia gilliesii'']
6. Gómez Bellver, Carlos. (2019). "Noves dades per a la flora al·lòctona de Catalunya i del País Valencià". Butlletí de la Institució Catalana d'Història Natural.
7. S. Allen Counter. (2006-07-24). "Amazon mystery: A medicine man understood the secrets of this plant long before we did. How?". The Boston Globe.
8. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351547160_Anti-microbial_effects_of_aqueous_and_methanolic_extracts_of_Erythrostemon_gilliesii ResearchGate website, ''Anti-Microbial effects of aqueous and methanolic extracts of Erythrostemon gilliesii'', article by Vida Tafakori and Nasim Nasiri, published in Nova Biologica Reperta in January 2020]
9. [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10889868.2022.2136132 Taylor & Francis website, ''Humic acid reduces lead phytoextraction efficiency of Erythrostemon gilliesii'', article by Mohammadreza Abdollahpour et al, published in Bioremediation Journal in November 2022]
10. (November 1958). "Bird of Paradise seed poisoning". J Okla State Med Assoc.
11. [https://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Erythrostemon+gilliesii&redir=Caesalpinia+gilliesii Useful Tropical Plants website, ''Erythrostemon gilliesii'']