• Family : FABACEAE
  (Pea Or Bean Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : PALASH FAMILY (पलाश फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System IV) : Leguminosae
• Subfamily : Faboideae
• Synonym(s) : Chirocalyx candolleanus Walp.; Chirocalyx divaricatus (Moc. & Sessé ex DC.) Walp.; Chirocalyx indicus (Lam.) Walp.; Chirocalyx pictus (L.) Walp.; Corallodendron divaricatum (Moc. & Sessé ex DC.) Kuntze; Corallodendron lobulatum (Miq.) Kuntze; Corallodendron orientale (L.) Kuntze; Corallodendron spathaceum (DC.) Kuntze; Erythrina alba Cogn. & Marchand; Erythrina boninensis Tuyama; Erythrina corallodendron Lam.; Erythrina divaricata Moc. & Sessé ex DC.; Erythrina indica Lam.; Erythrina indica var. phlebocarpa (F.M.Bailey) Domin; Erythrina lobulata Miq.; Erythrina loureiroi G.Don; Erythrina orientalis (L.) Murray; Erythrina panduriformis Blume ex Miq.; Erythrina phlebocarpa F.M.Bailey; Erythrina picta L.; Erythrina resupinata Moritzi; Erythrina rostrata Ridl.; Erythrina spathacea DC.; Erythrina variegata var. alba (Blatt. & Millard) M.R.Almeida; Tetradapa javanorum Osbeck
• Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Erythrina variegata L.
• Common name : Indian Coral Tree, Tiger's claw
• Vernacular name :
  • Paribhadrika (Sanskrit)
  • Pharad, Pangra, Dadp, Pankara (Hindi)
  • Kalyana-murungai (Tamil)
  • Mulla moduga, Badisa, Bedita, Baridamu (Telugu)
  • Chavuldhua, Paladhua (Oria)
  • Paribhadrika (Sanskrit)
  • Harivana, Harivana (Kannada)
  • Kalyana, Mullumurukku, Murukku (Malayalam)
• Habit : Tree
• Habitat : Tropical dry deciduous forests
• Comments / notes : Planted in hedges and as support for pepper and betel vines.
• Key identification features : Prickly tree; soft wooded; prickles on stem
• Flower, Fruit : February-July
• Collector(s) Name : Cecil J. Saldanha
• Collection Date : 26/04/1970
• Collection Nos : CJS 16905
• Collection Locality : Belur-Hassan road, Hassan district
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Visakhapatnam district, S.P.S. Nellore district, Srikakulam district
  • Karnataka : All districts of Karnataka
  • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
  • Odisha : Kandhamal district, Ganjam district
  • Tamil Nadu : Salem district, Namakkal district, Dharmapuri district, Kancheepuram (Changalpattu-CGP) district, Coimbatore district, Madurai district, The Nilgiri district, Villipuram district, Cuddalore district, Tiruchirapalli district
  • Jharkhand :
  • Uttarakhand : Uttarakhand
  • Sikkim : Sikkim
  • West Bengal : West Bengal
  • Himachal Pradesh : Himachal Pradesh
  • Arunachal Pradesh : Arunachal Pradesh
  • Meghalaya : Meghalaya
  • Assam : Assam
  • Nagaland : Nagaland
  • Delhi : Delhi
  • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
  • Punjab : Punjab
  • Jammu and Kashmir : Jammu and Kashmir
  • Mizoram : Mizoram
  • Andaman and Nicobar Islands : South Andaman, Little Andaman, North Nicobar
  • Manipur : Manipur
  • Tripura : Tripura
  • Lakshadweep : Lakshadweep
• Native : Aldabra, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Cambodia, Caroline Islands, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Fiji, Hainan, India, Jawa, Lakshadweep Islands, Laos, Lesser Sunda Islands, Madagascar, Malaya, Maldives, Maluku, Marianas, Marquesas, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Niue, Philippines, Samoa, Seychelles, Society Islands, Solomon Islands, South China Sea, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, Tuamotu, Tubuai Islands, Vanuatu, Vietnam
• Exotic/Native : Native
• World Distribution : Aldabra, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Cambodia, Caroline Islands, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Fiji, Hainan, India, Jawa, Lakshadweep Islands, Laos, Lesser Sunda Islands, Madagascar, Malaya, Maldives, Maluku, Marianas, Marquesas, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Niue, Philippines, Samoa, Seychelles, Society Islands, Solomon Islands, South China Sea, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, Tuamotu, Tubuai Islands, Vanuatu, Vietnam
• Conservation Status : Least Concern (LC)
• Literature :
  • H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1994- Flora of Orissa Vol. 1
  • R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District
  • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1.
  • Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983
  • Pullaiah et al., 2001 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 2
  • Flora of Karnataka, Saldanha, 1984
  • Keshava Murthy & Yoganarasimhan, 1990 - Flora of Coorg district, Karnataka state
  • Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 - Udupi
  • Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara
  • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI
  • Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1.
  • Parkinson, C.E. 1923. A Forest Flora of the Andaman Islands, Govt. of India, Shimla: 152
  • Indigenous Plants at Biodiversity Park, Ranchi - Ranchi Afforestation Division, Forest and Environmental Department, Jharkhand
  • K.Ravikumar, A.C.Tangavelou, & Navendu Page. (2021). Seed plants of Karnataka, India: A concise dictionary. FRLHT-TDU, National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), Chennai.
  • P. S. N. Rao, P. M. Padhey, B. K. Sinha, H. S. Debnath, P. Lakshminarasimhan, & L. N. Ray. (1999). Flora of Andaman-Nicobar Islands (Vol. 1). Director, Botanical Survey of India.
• Read more :
  • GBIF Data Online (Access to herbarium specimens)
  • Plants of the World Online
  • World Flora Online
  • Global Plants on JSTOR
• Permalink : https://indiatrees-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Erythrina variegata
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Trees and Vegetation Types. Erythrina variegata. Downloaded on 3 October 2026.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Line Drawings

Field Image(s)

Habitat

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution

GBIF Distribution