Erythrina zeyheri

Ploughbreaker
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Genus:	Erythrina
Species:	E. zeyheri
Binomial name
Erythrina zeyheri Harv.

Erythrina zeyheri, commonly known as the ploughbreaker, is a deciduous, geoxylic subshrub and member of the Fabaceae, which is endemic to southern Africa. It grows no more than 60 cm tall^[1] and occurs naturally in the higher elevation grasslands of South Africa's central plateau, and that of adjacent Lesotho.^[2] They favour deep clay soil in the vicinity of creeks and marshes, and often form colonies.^[1] Its specific name commemorates the 19th century botanist, Karl Zeyher.

It is a geoxylic plant, sometimes called an "underground tree",^[3] that produces annual stems, some 50 to 60 cm long.^[4] It has glabrous, leathery, trifoliolate leaves with large leaflets. The rachis and main leaf venation, which are prominently raised below, are armed with recurved spines on both leaf surfaces.^[5] The petioles and stems are likewise armed to discourage browsers. The shoots and leaves are deciduous, dying away during harsh highveld winters,^[1] when the plant survives as an extensive woody, tuberous rootstock.

The upright inflorescences appear in summer, with the leaves,^[4] from October to January.^[1] The drooping scarlet, or rarely white flowers,^[5] are capped by a red calyxes. Their fruit are smooth black pods when mature, each containing a few large (1.0 to 1.7 cm long) seeds.^[4] These are hard and orange-red in colour.^[1][5]

It is a foodplant for the moth Terastia margaritis.^[6]

• 
  Abaxial leaf surface armed with recurved spines on main veins
• 
  The perennial tuberous rootstock
• 
  Green pods and seed

• Colony of Erythrina zeyheri after a grass-fire Archived 2012-09-02 at the Wayback Machine, Operation wildflower

Media related to Erythrina zeyheri at Wikimedia Commons