Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Melithaea ochracea grows on shallow reefs in the South China Sea between Taiwan and Indonesia.Its range also includes Singapore and Malaysia. [3] In Taiwan, it is the most widespread gorgonian coral and is found on the higher parts of reef fronts where its numerous small polyps can feed at water flow rates varying from 4 to 40 centimetres (1.6 to 15.7 in) per second.
Members of the genus Melithaea are arborescent colonial corals forming fan, bush or tree shapes. The axis or main skeletal "trunk" is jointed, there being nodes, flexible horny joints, separated by internodes composed of hard, calcareous material. The branches divide off at the nodes which are often swollen.
The conspicuous, even dramatic coral trees are widely used as floral emblems. cockspur coral tree (E. crista-galli) is the national flower of Argentina and Uruguay. The coastal coral tree ( E. afra ) is the official city tree of Los Angeles , California , where it is referred to simply as the "coral tree". [ 13 ]
Erythrina herbacea, commonly known as the coral bean, Cherokee bean, Mamou plant in South Louisiana, red cardinal or cardinal spear, is a flowering shrub or small tree found throughout the southeastern United States and northeastern Mexico; [2] it has also been reported from parts of Central America and, as an introduced species, from Pakistan.
A "coral tree" is the first type of nursery of its kind where coral is completely suspended in the water column. [20] Low cost and availability of materials to create these coral trees make them an ideal method for propagation. [20]
Erythrina afra, the coast coral tree or African coral tree (historically also the kaffir tree), is a tree native to southeastern Africa, which is often cultivated and has introduced populations in California and India.
Many of the smaller branches are compressed in the plane of the fan, which distinguishes this species from the Venus sea fan (Gorgonia flabellum). It often has small accessory fans growing out sideways from the main fan. It grows to 1.5 m (5 ft) tall and is variable in colour, being whitish, yellow, or pale purple.
Consequently, the term "gorgonian coral" is commonly handed to multiple species in the order Alcyonacea that produce a mineralized skeletal axis (or axial-like layer) composed of calcite and the proteinaceous material gorgonin only and corresponds to only one of several families within the formally accepted taxon Gorgoniidae (Scleractinia).