Description: Large, spiny-trunked shrub with large, tubular, scarlet-red flowers at tips of rigid, ascending branches 
Height: To 25 ft, usually 6 to 12 ft. 
Flowers: Large, in terminal clusters (racemes), tubular, scarlet-red, to 2.1 inches long 
Fruit: Thin elongate, dark brown to black pods, open to expose scarlet-red beans 
Foliage: Alternate or clustered, leaflets 3, persistent, each leaflet with 3 lobes; to 3.2 inches long 
Spines: Stout, recurved thorns on trunk and branches Bark: Green to reddish-brown, smooth 
Growth Rate: Medium 

Requirements: 
Sun: Full sunshine to light shade 
Soil: Loamy, sandy 
Drainage: Medium 
Water: Medium 
Maintenance: Little 
Propagation: Seed, cuttings, shoots from old roots, divisions of root stalks 

Native Habitat: Wooded edges 

Wildlife Use: 
Bark, stems, and beans poisonous to fish and wildlife 
Flowers - hummingbirds 

Comments: This very attractive shrub requires careful placement to avoid contacting thorns